Green Lantern
September 22nd, 2006, 8:32:28 AM
Detainees deal may quell GOP infighting
By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Republicans hope that an accord reached between the Bush administration and GOP senators on the treatment of terror-war detainees means the party can go on a campaign-season offensive on the issue of protecting the country.
The deal, if passed next week by Congress as planned, would end an embarrassing two-week stretch of headlines on GOP infighting and allow the president to begin prosecuting terrorists linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"I'm pleased to say that this agreement preserves the single most potent tool we have in protecting America and foiling terrorist attacks," the president said after agreement was announced on one of his top remaining priorities of the year.
The agreement contains concessions by both sides, though the White House yielded ground on two of the most contentious issues: It agreed to drop a provision that would have narrowly interpreted international standards of prisoner treatment and another allowing defendants to be convicted on evidence they never see.
The accord, however, explicitly states that the president has the authority to enforce Geneva Convention standards and enumerates acts that constitute a war crime, including torture, rape, biological experiments, and cruel and inhuman treatment.
The agreement would grant Congress' permission for Bush to convene military tribunals to prosecute terrorism suspects, a process the Supreme Court had blocked in June because it had not been authorized by lawmakers.
During those trials, coerced testimony would be admissible if a judge allows and if it was obtained before cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment was forbidden by a 2005 law. Bush wanted to allow all such testimony, while three maverick Republican senators — John McCain of Arizona, John Warner of Virginia and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — had wanted to exclude it.
The central sticking point had been a demand by the three senators that there be no attempt to redefine U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
"We got what we wanted, and that is the preservation of the Geneva Conventions," McCain said Friday on NBC's "Today" show. "There will be no more torture. There will be no more mistreatment of prisoners that violates standards of conduct we would expect of people who work for the United States of America."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060922/ap_on_go_co/congress_terrorism
By ANNE PLUMMER FLAHERTY, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON - Republicans hope that an accord reached between the Bush administration and GOP senators on the treatment of terror-war detainees means the party can go on a campaign-season offensive on the issue of protecting the country.
The deal, if passed next week by Congress as planned, would end an embarrassing two-week stretch of headlines on GOP infighting and allow the president to begin prosecuting terrorists linked to the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
"I'm pleased to say that this agreement preserves the single most potent tool we have in protecting America and foiling terrorist attacks," the president said after agreement was announced on one of his top remaining priorities of the year.
The agreement contains concessions by both sides, though the White House yielded ground on two of the most contentious issues: It agreed to drop a provision that would have narrowly interpreted international standards of prisoner treatment and another allowing defendants to be convicted on evidence they never see.
The accord, however, explicitly states that the president has the authority to enforce Geneva Convention standards and enumerates acts that constitute a war crime, including torture, rape, biological experiments, and cruel and inhuman treatment.
The agreement would grant Congress' permission for Bush to convene military tribunals to prosecute terrorism suspects, a process the Supreme Court had blocked in June because it had not been authorized by lawmakers.
During those trials, coerced testimony would be admissible if a judge allows and if it was obtained before cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment was forbidden by a 2005 law. Bush wanted to allow all such testimony, while three maverick Republican senators — John McCain of Arizona, John Warner of Virginia and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina — had wanted to exclude it.
The central sticking point had been a demand by the three senators that there be no attempt to redefine U.S. obligations under the Geneva Conventions.
"We got what we wanted, and that is the preservation of the Geneva Conventions," McCain said Friday on NBC's "Today" show. "There will be no more torture. There will be no more mistreatment of prisoners that violates standards of conduct we would expect of people who work for the United States of America."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060922/ap_on_go_co/congress_terrorism