A fellow torture victim splits with Sen. McCain

The Hill reports Two highly decorated veterans who were held captive together in a Vietnamese prison camp more than three decades ago find themselves nose to nose today over U.S. policy on torture. In a draft letter circulated to some rank-and-file Republican colleagues but not sent, Rep. Sam Johnson (R-Texas) asks the top House defense appropriators to exclude from a defense-spending conference report the anti-torture provision added to the Senate version of the bill by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).

Glad someone is speaking against McCain

The McCain amendment would limit American interrogators to techniques prescribed by the Army Field Manual and prohibit “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment” of prisoners in U.S. custody, regardless of nationality or physical location. “This provision could have devastating effects and is entirely unwarranted,” Johnson wrote in an unsigned and undated draft of the letter obtained by The Hill.

That is absolutely right. We don't torture, but to limit us from anything someone might think is degrading is unrealistic, considering the people being interrogated.

The McCain anti-torture language will likely be dropped from the spending bill but included, in some form, in the defense authorization bill, according to Republican aides. Committee staff worked over the weekend to iron out remaining trouble spots in the authorization measure.

McCain wants to be President. How the heck does he think his administration could interrogate Islamoterrorists if this restriction is passed?

Despite 90 votes supporting the McCain amendment in the Senate, the administration has threatened to veto either bill if it contains the amendment’s language. White House officials, most notably Vice President Cheney, have long sought to thwart McCain’s effort.

Betsy blogged Apparently, Johnson eschews the limelight as much as McCain claims it. I'd like to hear more of his views or at least see a debate between him and McCain instead of just seeing McCain on every other show every time you turn on the TV.