Feinstein Moves To Close That “Loophole” On Torture
As I noted here yesterday, human rights advocates think that the executive order outlawing torture that President Obama signed yesterday preserves some wiggle room, because it also appoints a task force to determine whether the techniques outlined in the Army Field Manual are appropriate to the task of keeping the nation safe.
Well, it turns out that others have reached this conclusion, too. The ranking Democratic Senator on the intel committee is now working on ways to stitch up this apparent loophole:
Senator Dianne Feinstein, Democrat of California and chairwoman of the committee, said that despite the executive orders she still planned to press for legislation mandating a single standard for military and C.I.A. interrogators. Such a law would be harder to reverse than Mr. Obama’s executive order, which he could alter or cancel at any time by issuing a new order.
“I think that ultimately the government is well served by codifying it, by having it in law,” Mrs. Feinstein said.
It’ll be interesting to see how the Obama administration reacts to such legislation, should it gain steam.
In another move suggesting the possibility of wiggle room here, Obama’s choice for Director of National Intelligence, Dennis Blair, yesterday told Senators that he believed some interrogation techniques should stay secret so possible foes can’t prepare themselves for them.
Obama very strongly denounced torture yesterday as he signed the order outlawing it. But it’s nonetheless hard to avoid the conclusion that the administration does in fact want to preserve some kind of flexibility here, for reasons that are not yet entirely clear, at least to me. Perhaps it’s merely intended to take the steam out of CIA critics who say that Obama shouldn’t foreclose options for intel agents in extraordinary circumstances.
We’ll be digging into this more today.
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“it’s nonetheless hard to avoid the conclusion that the administration does in fact want to preserve some kind of flexibility here, for reasons that are not yet entirely clear, at least to me. Perhaps it’s merely intended to take the steam out of CIA critics who say that Obama shouldn’t foreclose options for intel agents in extraordinary circumstances.”
Or perhaps some of the techniques used that fall outside of the Army Field Manual have actually worked and have saved lives and Obama has now seen such prrof and he takes his duty seriously? I think it’s a damn good idea to put the fear of God into those potential terrorists. Knowing in the back of their head somewhere that there are special, secret interrogation techniques in store just for them might act as a deterrent.
I watched Blair’s testimony, and I don’t think your paraphrase of it is accurate. He clealy was suggesting that the details of some interrogation techniques could be kept secret to frustrate enemies’ training to counter them, but not that there could be methods wholly different than those described in the public documents.
interesting point JaO. You may be right. That said, since the field manual is public, any techniques that would remain secret would by definition be outside the field manual…
perhaps the president was leaving himself wiggle room, perhaps not.
i remember reading something the other day — the actual subject i don’t remember — but the president said, essentially — and i paraphrase here — that “such an important subject should be handled by congress.”
should congress NOT do something to close the loophole, i would not be at all surprised to see some additional action taken by the president to close it.
btw, you people stole my idea!
congratulations.
you’re doing a better job than i am.
Put them in a room with Al Gore and a slide projector.
NOW THAT’S CRUEL AND UNUSUAL PUNISHMENT.
I saw global warming in Florida last week. He says hello and he’s gonna get you.
The loophole I’ve been wondering about is what controls would there be over updates to the content of the Army Field Manual? It appears that they may be trying to address that, as the Executive Order refers to a specific publication date, but it’s not clear to me what it would mean when that publication is revised.
Having served in the military over 30 years in several wars, across the globe, I can tell you that no one plays by “the rules” but us and a few European countries. Do people screw up and get overzealous? Of course. But our forces are disciplined and professional, and honor is still part of our code. If you think making more rules about what is and isn’t torture is going to help anyone other than our enemies, you are sadly mistaken. And I can assure you, the people expressing the most outrage in the world are laughing their butts off in private at our hand-wringing of how we treat our enemies. Being in the rest of the world is like going out on the school playground when you’re a kid, and it’s full of all the bullies you know, and the teachers are all gone home, and there is no one but you to protect yourself. Hard to imagine if you’ve only walked down main street, U.S.A. in the golden sunshine with a cop on every corner to protect you.
The following is from the January 16th CNN’s “State of the Union” program with anchor John King where President Obama states what he feels about executive orders. Although he is answering a question about stem cell research, I feel he is also speaking of executive orders in general. “So we’re still examining what things we’ll do through executive order. But I like the idea of the American people’s representatives expressing their views on an issue like this.” Senator Feinstein must have heard this interview and took him up on his word. Smart man.
KING: You will have the power at the end of that parade to, at the stroke of a pen, lift the federal ban on embryonic stem cell research. There may be the votes to do it in Congress now, but you don’t have to wait, you could do it in your first few minutes in office, will you?
OBAMA: Well, if we can do something legislative then I usually prefer a legislative process because those are the people’s representatives. And I think that on embryonic stem cell research, the fact that you have a bipartisan support around that issue, the fact that you have Republicans like Orrin Hatch who are fierce opponents of abortion and yet recognize that there is a moral and ethical mechanism to ensure that people with Parkinson’s disease and Alzheimer’s can actually find potentially some hope out there, you know, I think that sends a powerful message.
So we’re still examining what things we’ll do through executive order. But I like the idea of the American people’s representatives expressing their views on an issue like this.
http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2009/01/obama_gives_wid.html
And somehow, allowing them to torture is going to strengthen that code? What honor is there in torture? And even if it’s only “us and some European countries” that treat humans with dignity, who cares? I think I’d rather be in a small group of civilized countries than out in the league of failed nations. It might well be that our enemies are “laughing their butts off”, since all evidence is that they understand our civilization just about as poorly as you do. Who the hell cares? The question of torture is not about them. It has never been about them. It’s about us and whom we want to be as a people.
Personally, I choose civilization.