Bush Promises to Veto Anti-Torture Bill Passed by House, Even Though He Says That the U.S. Doesn't Torture. Washington Post and Other Corporate Mainstream Press Continue to Call Torture "Harsh Interrogation" "Tactics or Techniques," Taking Their Cue from the White House.
http://cannonfire.blogspot.com/2006/04/tom-delay-appointee-involved-in-drug.htmlHouse Passes Bill to Ban CIA's Use of Harsh Interrogation Tactics
By Joby Warrick and Walter Pincus
Washington Post Staff Writers
Friday, December 14, 2007; Page A07
The House approved legislation yesterday that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics, drawing an immediate veto threat from the White House and setting up another political showdown over what constitutes torture.
The measure, approved by a largely party-line vote of 222 to 199, would require U.S. intelligence agencies to follow Army rules adopted last year that explicitly forbid waterboarding. It also would require interrogators to adhere to a strict interpretation of the Geneva Conventions on the treatment of prisoners of war. The rules, required by Congress for all Defense Department personnel, also ban sexual humiliation, "mock" executions and the use of attack dogs, and prohibit the withholding of food and medical care.
The passage of the bill, which must still win Senate approval, fulfills a promise by House Democratic leaders to seek a ban on interrogation practices that have prompted the condemnation of human rights groups and many governments around the world. It comes amid a furor over the CIA's announcement a week ago that it destroyed in 2005 videotapes showing the use of harsh interrogation tactics on two terrorism suspects.
The White House vowed to veto the measure. Limiting the CIA to interrogation techniques authorized by the Army Field Manual "would prevent the United States from conducting lawful interrogations of senior al Qaeda terrorists to obtain intelligence needed to protect Americans from attack," the Office of Management and Budget said in a statement.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/13/AR2007121301288.html?hpid=topnews