Democrats Mourn Republican Bill Approving US Torture, Unexplained Imprisonment

"Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear... It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable."

--- National Religious Campaign against Torture, June 2006

I have an ache in the pit of my stomach today, knowing that my government... the land I love... now officially condones barbaric torture and Soviet-style unexplained imprisonment. It's like finding out that a beloved spouse cheats, or an adored child has a secret, darker life.

It's sadly disillusioning, and we all know, deep-down, that something important has forever changed. But change it has under brutal George W. Bush, our first president with an unapologetic taste for thuggery.

Senate Passes Bush Detainee Bill
"The Senate approved a measure on Thursday on the interrogations and trials of terrorism suspects, establishing far-reaching rules to deal with what President Bush has called the most dangerous combatants in a different type of war," reports the New York Times on September 29, 2006.

The New York Times opined on September 28:

"Last week, the White House and three Republican senators announced a terrible deal on this legislation that gave Mr. Bush most of what he wanted, including a blanket waiver for crimes Americans may have committed in the service of his antiterrorism policies.

Then Vice President Dick Cheney and his willing lawmakers rewrote the rest of the measure so that it would give Mr. Bush the power to jail pretty much anyone he wants for as long as he wants without charging them, to unilaterally reinterpret the Geneva Conventions, to authorize what normal people consider torture, and to deny justice to hundreds of men captured in error."

Kathy Gill, About.com's Guide to US Politics Current Events has an excellent background article at Detainee Bill & Enemy Combatants

Democratic Reaction to Passage of S. 3930
Voting NO on the bill were 32 Democrats, 1 Republican and 1 Independent, while 12 Democrats and 53 Republicans voted YES. The following are reactions of Democrats who voted against this unprecedented expansion of presidential powers to torture:

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI) , ranking Democrat on the Armed Services Committee, in the New York Times: This bill "is as legally abusive of the rights guaranteed in the Constitution as the actions at Abu Ghraib, Guantánamo and secret prisons were physically abusive of detainees."

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, in the Washington Post: "This is wrong. It is unconstitutional. It is un-American."

Per the Post about Leahy, "He said it was intended to choke off access to Guantanamo to 'ensure that the Bush-Cheney administration will never again be embarrassed by a United States Supreme Court decision reviewing its unlawful abuses of power.' "

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) in a Senate speech: "The Senate, under the authority of the Republican Majority and with the blessing and encouragement of the Bush-Cheney Administration, is doing a great disservice to our history, our principles, our citizens, and our soldiers. The deliberative process is being broken under the pressure of partisanship and the policy that results is a travesty...

The bill before us allows the admission into evidence of statements derived through cruel, inhuman and degrading interrogation. That sets a dangerous precedent that will endanger our own men and women in uniform overseas."

Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) in a Senate speech: "...this legislation would deny detainees at Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere—people who have been held for years but have not been tried or even charged with any crime—the ability to challenge their detention in court. Among its many flaws, this is the most troubling—that the legislation seeks to suspend the Great Writ of habeas corpus... "

And the final word comes from Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) who summed it up well in her Senate floor speech: "... we are being asked to consider legislation that will determine how our troops and personnel, foreign troops and personnel, as well as innocent bystanders will be treated when captured during conflict.

The bill before the Senate is fundamentally flawed... Here’s why:

First, it gives the President expansive, unilateral powers...
Second, it creates ambiguous and vague definitions of torture and cruel and inhumane treatment...
Third, the legislation abandons independent judicial review...
Fourth, it allows evidence secured through coercion...
Fifth, it eliminates innocent people’s rights.

I urge you to digest Senator Feinstein's quick-reading explanation of each of these five points, which clearly explains the violent dangers and immoralities of this bill.

Related Reading
US Religious Leaders Condemn Torture by Bush Administration
Top Ten Signs of the US Police State, Plus One More Sign
Rushing Off a Cliff, New York Times editorial on September 28, 2006