KENNEDY ON PRESIDENT’S VETO OF ANTI-TORTURE LEGISLATION
WASHINGTON, DC—Senator Edward M. Kennedy today released the following statement on President Bush’s forthcoming veto of the Intelligence Authorization Bill. The bill includes a provision requiring all U.S. government interrogations to comply with the Army Field Manual, which prohibits techniques widely regarded as torture, such as waterboarding, attack dogs, and electric shocks.
“According to the White House press secretary, the President will veto the Intelligence Authorization Act tomorrow.
President Bush’s veto will be one of the most shameful acts of his presidency. Unless Congress overrides the veto, it will go down in history as a flagrant insult to the rule of law and a serious stain on the good name of America in the eyes of the world.
This bill is clearly needed to bring the CIA’s renegade “enhanced interrogation program” in line with the law and prevent the use of interrogation techniques that are torture by another name.
As experts from across the political spectrum have recognized, the Army Field Manual is both good for the rule of law and good for our national security. As the Manual states, “Use of torture is not only illegal but also it is a poor technique that yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say what he thinks the [interrogator] wants to hear.”
In a letter to our troops on May 10, 2007, General Petraeus himself stated that “our experience in applying the interrogation standards laid out in the Army Field Manual . . . shows that the techniques in the manual work effectively and humanely in eliciting the information from detainees.”
Requiring all U.S. interrogators to comply with the Field Manual will produce better intelligence to pursue our enemies, end worldwide outrage at our interrogation practices, and protect our own personnel from torture.”
