the tube and reading articles on the internet, I can't be 100% sure. I know the articles are mentioning it. And then there's Colin Powell:
http://freeinternetpress.com/story.php?sid=8448Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell came out in opposition today to White House-sponsored legislation to create special military commissions that would try terrorist suspects, saying he rejects efforts to "redefine" a key provision of the Geneva Conventions.
Powell, a retired Army general who formerly headed the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated his position in a letter to Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), one of three Republican senators who are blocking President Bush's plan for military tribunals. The three - who also include Sen. John W. Warner (R-Virginia), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-South Carolina), a member of the committee - are advancing an alternative tribunal bill that contains more protections for defendants.
The letter, dated Sept. 13, was released by McCain's office today as Bush was paying a rare visit to Capitol Hill to lobby Republican lawmakers for support on his military commission bill and on separate legislation that would essentially endorse a controversial warrantless eavesdropping program.
Powell, who served as secretary of state during Bush's first term, objected strongly to changing U.S. compliance with the Geneva Conventions, which include international standards for the treatment of prisoners of war.
"I just returned to town and learned about the debate taking place in Congress to redefine Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention," Powell wrote to McCain. "I do not support such a step and believe it would be inconsistent with the McCain amendment on torture which I supported last year." He referred to a provision, added to the 2006 Defense Appropriations Bill, that prohibits "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons under custody or control of the United States government."