John McCain Denounces Torture: ‘The Very Idea Of America Is At Stake’

Posted by AzBlueMeanie:

Sen. John McCain previously was an advocate against inhumane treatment of prisoners. McCain successfully included an anti-torture amendment to the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005 (commonly referred to as the Amendment on (1) the Army Field Manual and (2) Cruel, Inhumane, Degrading Treatment, amendment #1977 and also known as the McCain Amendment 1977.)

But torture was already illegal under U.S. law, international law, and treaties to which the U.S. was the principal author. John McCain sheepishly stood by the side of President Bush as he defended his administration's use of "enhanced interrogation," i.e., illegal torture. McCain never once held a congressional hearing nor demanded that anyone in the Bush administration responsible for the illegal torture policy be held accountable. He put his own political ambition ahead of his supposed principles, and ahead of justice served.

So with that caveat, I reluctantly give Sen. McCain credit for this speech against the use of torture after a week in which the "lamestream media" gave the architects and apologists for illegal torture in the Bush administration ready access to the airwaves to promote illegal torture.

UPDATED: Full Speech

Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) took to the Senate floor Thursday to condemn waterboarding and other torture techniques, saying that the debate over these techniques is ultimately "about morality. What is at stake here it the very idea of America." McCain Denounces Torture: 'The Very Idea Of America' Is At Stake (VIDEO):

"The America," he continued, "whose values have inspired the world and instilled in the hearts of its citizens the certainty that no matter how hard we fight, no matter how dangerous our adversary, in the course of vanquishing our enemies we do not compromise our deepest vlaues."

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McCain began his speech on the Senate floor by laying out his belief that waterboarding is torture, despite the "enhanced interrogation" euphemism frequently used by its supporters: "I believe some of these practices, especially waterboarding — which is a mock execution and thus to me indisputably torture — are and should be prohibited in a nation that is exceptional in its defense and advocacy of human rights."

He continued that he would oppose any legislation that would authorize a return to waterboarding or any other methods of interrogation that he believes "are torture, or cruel, inhuman, and degrading, and as such unworthy and injurious to our country."

And the reason why John McCain will receive only faint praise from me:

McCain did offer some praise for those who implemented the techniques, saying that he understands why they were approved, "and I know that those who approved them, and those who employed them in the interrogation of captured terrorists were admirably dedicated to protecting the American people from harm." He also added that he doesn't believe anyone should be prosecuted for having used torture in the past.

Also See McCain's op/ed in the Washington Post today, Bin Laden’s death and the debate over torture – The Washington Post:

I don’t believe anyone should be prosecuted for having used these techniques, and I agree that the administration should state definitively that they won’t be. I am one of the authors of the Military Commissions Act, and we wrote into the legislation that no one who used or approved the use of these interrogation techniques before its enactment should be prosecuted. I don’t think it is helpful or wise to revisit that policy.

McCain's opposition to torture is meaningless if he is not willing to enforce the law and to hold lawbreakers accountable for their heinous crimes. I will give him credit to the extent that he is calling out the Bush illegal torture apologists for their lies.

UPDATE II: See Greg Sargent's excellent analysis at the Plum Line. John McCain to Bush apologists: Stop lying about Bin Laden and torture.

Steve Benen quote: "I’ll look forward to Liz Cheney questioning his patriotism."

NOTE: Post edited and extended.