White House, McCain in deal on torture measure
(Reuters)
Updated: 2005-12-16 09:02

Bowing to bipartisan pressure after months of resistance, US President George W. Bush agreed on Thursday to back legislation proposed by Senator John McCain to ban inhumane treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody.

With McCain, an Arizona Republican, at his side in the Oval Office, Bush said his goal was to "make it clear to the world that this government does not torture" after a string of detainee abuse scandals damaged Washington's image.

The White House accepted the amendment by McCain -- who endured torture as a prisoner of war in Vietnam -- after initially threatening to veto it and after Vice President Dick Cheney led an unsuccessful bid to exempt the CIA from the torture ban, saying it would hinder the war on terrorism.

But California Republican Duncan Hunter, chairman of the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee, threatened to block the legislation unless he got White House assurance in writing the amendment would allow "the same high level of effective intelligence-gathering capability that we presently have."

The administration has been hammered by a scandal over the sexual and physical abuse of detainees by U.S. soldiers at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, harsh interrogations at U.S. facilities at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and reports the CIA has run secret prisons abroad to hold terrorism suspects.

McCain's proposal would ban cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of prisoners and set standards for interrogations.

The White House had sought protections for interrogators from prosecution under the law, which McCain said would undermine his amendment.

Bush finally settled for language similar to the Uniform Code of Military Justice to allow CIA interrogators to defend themselves based on whether a reasonable person could have found they were following a lawful order about the treatment of prisoners.

"People need to understand what the limits are. And if people don't meet those limits, they're going to be investigated and they're going to be held accountable," Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said on CNN.

STRIKES 'RIGHT BALANCE'

The agreement also said the government could offer lawyers for interrogators facing criminal or civil prosecutions.

National security adviser Stephen Hadley told reporters the agreement would provide "reasonable protections for these men and women who are doing very difficult work in the interests of the country." He said it "struck the right balance" in assuring humane treatment and aggressive intelligence gathering.

Hunter said he was concerned it could put a chill on interrogators. Hunter and House Intelligence Committee Chairman Peter Hoekstra, a Michigan Republican, want the White House to get assurances from intelligence officials it would not.

Hunter's position could imperil the amendment on the defense policy bill that Hunter oversees. But it could pass as part of a defense spending bill Congress is rushing to complete before it adjourns for the year.

McCain told reporters Bush must be confident the amendment would not harm intelligence gathering, "otherwise he would never have agreed to it."

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, a Virginia Republican, said he had "full confidence in the president's endorsement" of McCain's amendment, and was working to put it into law.

The Senate backed McCain's amendment 90-9, and the House voted on Wednesday 308-122 in support of it.

"Now we can move forward and make sure that the whole world knows, as the president has stated many times, we do not practice cruel, inhumane treatment or torture," McCain said.

Rep. Jane Harman of California, top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, issued a statement saying: "Today's agreement by the White House and congressional leaders means that interrogators will be given clear, unambiguous rules to follow. ... The fog of law is lifting. America's black eye is finally healing."