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McCain Moves On Torture?
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Time wonders whether John McCain has changed his views on torture. They've obtained a 2005 draft of legislation McCain was planning to introduce that would have required all components of the U.S. governments to adhere to the interrogation standards set by the Army Field Manual.
These days, McCain follows the direction of the director of the CIA, Mike Hayden, who argues that the field manual's list of techniques is necessarily limited. Rank and file soldiers can't be expected to learn to interrogate prisoners with the same effectiveness as trained interrogators; it doesn't make sense to limit specialists in interrogation to general techniques that every soldier is required to assimilate.
McCain (and Hayden) still seem to the draw line at torture: the specific techniques are subject to intensive legal review and anything that strikes McCain as torturous -- and he clearly has a broader definition of torture than the Bush Administration -- would still be prohibited.
These days, McCain follows the direction of the director of the CIA, Mike Hayden, who argues that the field manual's list of techniques is necessarily limited. Rank and file soldiers can't be expected to learn to interrogate prisoners with the same effectiveness as trained interrogators; it doesn't make sense to limit specialists in interrogation to general techniques that every soldier is required to assimilate.
McCain (and Hayden) still seem to the draw line at torture: the specific techniques are subject to intensive legal review and anything that strikes McCain as torturous -- and he clearly has a broader definition of torture than the Bush Administration -- would still be prohibited.
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