Vice President Cheney and the Anti-Torture Amendment

Since the Anti-Torture Amendment was approved in the Senate 90-9, there have been numerous news reports detailing a behind-the-scenes effort by Vice President Dick Cheney to either stop the amendment entirely or scuttle portions of it. According to press reports (Cheney has not spoken publicly on this issue), Cheney is pushing to both exempt the CIA from the standards on treatment of prisoners as defined by the anti-torture amendment and exempt particular geographic locations from the law.

Both of these changes would eviscerate the amendment as its value is predicated on protecting everyone in our custody, not just some people in some places. Not surprisingly, his efforts are being resisted strongly by Senator John McCain as well as some at the Pentagon: "The uniformed military is appalled by Cheney's stand," says a Pentagon official. (Newsweek, Nov. 7, 2005)

John McCain had this to say about attempts by Cheney to alter the text of his amendment: "There can be no exceptions." (USA Today, Nov. 9, 2005)