Senate Defies Bush On Terror Bill
GOP-Led Committee Approves Detainee Law Opposed By President
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Bush's Terror Detainee Battle
President Bush is coming up against some tough opposition from members of his own party on his plan for trying terror suspects before special military tribunals. Sharyl Attkisson reports.
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Bush On GOP Meeting
CBS News RAW: President Bush commented on his meeting with legislators after joining them in a House GOP conference.
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Debate Over Gitmo Suspects
President Bush is going to push Congress for tools he says he needs to fight the war on terrorism. As Sharyl Attkisson reports, the debate is over what rights Gitmo detainees should have at trial.
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Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, from left: John McCain, committee chair John Warner and Lindsey Graham, Sept. 13, 2006. The three Republicans oppose President Bush's plan for prosecuting terror suspects. (Getty Images)
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Former Secretary of State Colin Powell urged Congress not to pass President Bush's proposal on interrogating terror suspects. (AP Photo/Lawrence Jackson)
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President Bush talks to reporters on Capitol Hill, Sept. 14, 2006, following a closed-door meeting with House Republicans on national security issues. (AP)
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Detainees on trial, photos and a history of the naval base.
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War On Terror
Complete coverage of the military's battle against terrorism.
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The debate over the Bush administration's controversial wiretapping program.
Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia, normally a Bush supporter, pushed the measure through his Armed Services Committee by a 15-9 vote, with Warner and three other GOP lawmakers joining Democrats. The vote set the stage for a showdown on the Senate floor as early as next week.
Joining Warner was Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who told CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric that the president's bill as it stands could put U.S. soldiers in danger. "Men and women in the military could be placed in jeopardy if we amend the Geneva Conventions," McCain said.
When asked if he envisioned a damaging political rift in the Republican party over the issue, McCain told Couric he is mainly concerned with the safety of soldiers. "Day-to-day politics pale in comparison to that situation," he said.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Bush had journeyed to the Capitol to try nailing down support for his own version of the legislation.
"I will resist any bill that does not enable this program to go forward with legal clarity," Mr. Bush said at the White House.
The president's measure would go further than the Senate package in allowing classified evidence to be withheld from defendants in terror trials, using coerced testimony and protecting U.S. interrogators against prosecution for using methods that violate the Geneva Conventions.
The treatment of detainees has long dogged the Bush Administration. ever since abuses at Abu Ghraib. Since then the military has gone out of its way to show detainees at Guantanamo are treated humanely, reports CBS News correspondent Sharyl Attkisson.
The internal GOP struggle intensified along other fronts, too, as Colin Powell, Mr. Bush's first secretary of state, declared his opposition to the president's plan.
"The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism," Powell, a retired general who is also a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote in a letter.
Powell joined opponents to that legislation who argue it would undermine the Geneva Conventions, further hurt America's image in the world and put future American POWs at greater risk, CBS News correspondent Bob Fuss reports.Colin Powell's letter to Sen. John McCain (.pdf)
Firing back, White House spokesman Tony Snow said Powell was confused about the White House plan. Later, Snow said he probably shouldn't have used that word.
"I know that Colin Powell wants to beat the terrorists, too," he said.
Countering Powell's letter, the administration produced one from the current secretary of state to Warner. In it, Condoleezza Rice wrote that narrowing the standards for detainee treatment as Bush has proposed "would add meaningful definition and clarification to vague terms in the treaties."
©MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Colin Powell's letter to Sen. John McCain (.pdf)



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Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free."
It seems like the current administration has never heard those words that made America the beacon of liberty to the entire world instead of the #1 imperialist. Sad.
What's the world coming to? The thin line of patriots holding the line on Iraq is melting... melting away. You never can find a good fascist when you need one.
"To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public." Teddy Roosevelt
And the idea of using evidence against a prisoner and they cannot see it?? How can they expected to refute it or prove their innocence? People cannot believe that all suspected terrorist are really terrorist? Look at all the prisoners at Guantomino. 95% of them have never been charged with anything. Because they have no proof of any wrong doing.
Right now the US armed forces are having a really difficult time getting recruits. As a result the armed forces of full of people who would never have been allowed to join under different circumstances. That makes for a poor army. If we allow torture, then the armed forces will have an even harder time getting recruits because the young men and women will know that if they are captured by ANYONE they will be sujected to the same torture as we apply to our prisoners.
The Geneva Convention was created for a reason.
Why do you think all these generals and admirals are against this bill?
It would seem that a lot of people would lead us to believe the end justifies the means.
I think that since we are now at war we should all support those who are fighting it (absolutely and wanting an end to it and bringing our Men & Women home is supporting them or are you saying they want to be there and get shot at every day, We need a whole new approach with assistance from other counties because this hand to hand *** will not work and they recruit new people everyday. Bush screwed up plain and simple FACE IT. We need a whole new plan ) and also support the mission that they are there for, ( thought W'ya said the reason we went there was to remove Sadam and his WMD's which he never had and Sadam has been removed, remember him in his photo op 19 miles off shore with the cameras pointing out so no one could see how close he was to land "Mission Accomplished") because they would not be there without the mission. and the mission was...is your last name Bush?...end of conversation
strategy and would like to set their own ways of getting information. You see! So these Geneva convention and UN, even though we don't like them but is better to work with them.
You know what this is a political move to divert people's attention. I am sure they will come up with some statement from someone in Gitmo that Iran or some country has a nuke already or a dangerous bomb or something. My question is how long can you be fed Fear. Remember all this time we were told about hidden threats nothing but threats by these politicians. I don't criticize the people. I critize the liberalism and the vulnerability of the people for fear about effects on their freedom. Which is a capitalizing point to the Politicians to do their business.
Don't you understand that they are looking at us as "sick, disgusting, child killing, girl raping, murdering, blasphemers, racist animals that have no idea of who we are or what we live by."
It is all a matter of perspective.
Do you know anything about US foreign policy towards the Middle East? I would guess not. You think these people just woke up one day and said I hate the US for their freedoms, the way woman vote and their rock and roll?
The following is just a short list of harm the US has caused the Middle East and Iran in particular.
1. Iran in 1953 The US organized overthrow of their democratically elected offical and installed the Shah, who was universally hated by the Iranians. He was more brutal than Saddam and ruled over Iran for 25 years.
2. Iraq 1990's We pushed for sanctions that included NO MEDICINES that cost the lives of 100,000 babies.
3.Iraq 1990 We encouraged ***** Muslims to revolt against Saddam by promising them help. Bush Sr. decided, OOPs don't think so. Saddam slaughtered 100,000 *****.
To continue...
4.We go to their countries, uninvited and break all sorts of taboos that we never bother to learn about, because we think Christianity is the only religion and they must be BACKWARD to pray 5 times a day. Did you know that the Muslim religion is older than Christianity by about 1000 years?
My point is this. If Iran did to the US what the US has done to Iran for the past 50 years, we would attacking them too.
Try doing your homework before you get online to sound off so you know what you are talking about. I suggest "All the Shah's Men" as a starting book. You will never look at the CIA the same again.
I say it again. We are reaping trouble from the trouble we sowed when we starting messing in Middle East affairs starting back in the 1920's. Ambassadors to the middle east have been predicting this scenario for years.
The proposed Bush legislation literally paves the way for torture of incarcerated Americans at home and abroad, as well as "terror suspects". In exactly the same way, our secret prisons have allowed holding individuals without any evidence of wrongdoing, merely on suspicion.
Allowing this legislation to pass is an open invitation to secretly arrest and/or torture accused Americans within borders of the U.S.
This kind of legislation is in fact a test of public acceptance. If Americans accept (or even in some cases, _promote_) this kind of unconstitutional injustice against foreign nationals, it is a clear indicator to politicians everywhere that we are also prepared to allow it against our neighbors, our families and all other fellow citizens whether or not they have actually done anything wrong.
The year is 1920. Canada says, instead of being one country I am going to divide you up into 50 states. Then I am going to overthrow your democratically elected president and put in the Shah. I will also place Canada troops there to make sure he stays in power. The Shah will saw down all your forests and sell the lumber to me at whatever price I say.
The troops will also use your churches as their gameroom. Some of the troops will get a little overly friendly with your woman, get over it.
You don't like that, stuff it. I am going to do what I want.
We rebel after 25 years of this, and take some Canadians hostage. The hostage crisis ends. However instead of the moderate president we had before you messed with us, we now have a radical fundamentalist who puts back 100 years.
Are you understanding now? Osama Bin Laden has never made any secret of the reason for his attacks. Zacharia Moussoui said the same thing, it all comes down to US foreign policy.
You see, we Americans think we are so great that we can do anything to anyone we want. You have a natural resource we need. OK if you will not give it to us reasonably, we will take it.
It all comes down to money and oil. That is the only reason we have messed with the Middle East. When we became addicted to oil, they became important enough to interfere with.
Now, we have a major problem with foreign countries and not just the middle east ones either.
This problem is rooted in our foreign policy.
I'll say it again.
This problem is rooted in our foreign policy.
Until we change our attitudes toward other countries, we will continue to suffer these kinds of crisis. And it will eventually lead to our downfall. I have said many times that only an international coalition can bring be used to bring stability to a country or region.
Don't believe everything you read either. Check it out by reading other sources on a subject too. How many hours a day did you say you read again?
Thus, given torture is inevitable, and given the propensity for human nature to be swayed by myth, the solution to the torture matter is rather simple:
Any signatory to the torture group accord is welcome to torture as they please (the "terrorists" do as they please because they have not "signed' on to Geneva, et cet, n'est pas?) with one simple caveat. All torture, however extreme, is to be photographed in IMAX and distributed via live sattelite feed to all news media, foriegn and domestic.
Let the chips fall where they may . . .
"Sorry I must have missed when the terrorist signed off on Genva Convention and agreed to Article #3 ."
What has this got to do with American behavior? America DID agree to the Convention in its entirety.
"Last I saw they gave no quarter."
Yes, and now the Bush administration pushes America to be more and more like them. Who is the enemy?
"So now Powell along with the DNC wants us to go to battle with one leg tied,arms in hang cuffs ."
Bloated hyperbole. The Bush administration _chose_ to make this a military struggle, when in fact, victory belongs to the intelligence and police agencies (who, by the way, are the sole agencies thus far effective against terrorist plots, if you believe the Bush/Cheney cabal story). All the allied military are doing in Iraq is burning money, destroying innocent lives (both American and foreign) and perpetuating themselves.
"Not giving the soldiers all the info that can be gotten is terrible."
Keeping the soldiers in harms way for absolutely no perceptible benefit to the nation is criminal. If the Republican Congress had one ounce of moral fortitude, it would demand answers from their unquestioned champion, George W. Bush.
"We don't have to lower our standards but we sure can scare the hell out of them."
Yet, the current Bush legislation is all about lowering our standards to the gutter level of torture and domestic spying.
If he had done that we would not have lost our standing with our allies and we would not have interfered in a country for false reasons.
A very worried citizen of the United States
President: Rush Limbaugh
Vice President: Michael Savage
Secretary of State: Ann Coulter
Attorney General: Bill OReilly
Other Government Officials: Michael Medved, Dennis Pragger, Bill Bennet, RicK Santorum, Laura Ingram, Sean Hannity, Allan Combs (for diversity), Allan Keys
Janitors and secretaries: Sandy theBergular, Hitlery Clinton, Nancy Graceless, John Kerrless, Nancy Pelosi, Al Franken, Rossi ODonnel, Condi Rice
What do you think?
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