Why doesn't Congress simply outlaw "water board" interrogation?

Question

The Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee were all in high dudgeon over the issue of water board interrogation. Why won't they simply outlaw it? What are they waiting for? It could easily be passed as an amendment to the Defense Authorization Bill.

Answer 1

Simple... they don't give a ratsass about actual torture or if it is or is not use... all the Democrats want is a political bludgeon to use against the President.. they don't even care if a new preventable attack happens on our soil... They just want their power back.... And they would sell their souls or this country to hell to achieve that end.

Answer 2

For one Pres Bush would veto it and there are not enough votes to override the veto. It's all politics anyway. The Democrats don't want it outlawed, then they would be unable to use it as a tool anymore. Water-boarding is a stress maneuver anyway as are cramped position's and sleep deprivation. When one is tired, hungry and in moderate pain it is harder to think clearly. The US military does many of the same types of things to soldiers in Basic training. Exposure to gas and physical training are both stressors and make it harder to function. The use of drugs is probably more effective in my opinion. And yes I bet we do plenty of that. In the end I am a pragmatic man and think that extreme measures are often necessary when dealing with an extreme enemy. To really defeat Islamic terrorists we would be better off to destroy Mecca and Medina as well at several other cities in Saudi Arabia but doubt we will ever have the guts to do so. The terrorists will certainly be able to inflict some real damage to the US in the not too distant future though, after all the 9-11 attacks were a military failure but a public relations smash.

Answer 3

George W. Bush will veto it.

He will probably give some BS excuse about the language in the Bill, and then the Neocons will side with Bush, so Congress will not have the 2/3 majority to override the President's Veto.

That is a classic Republican game.

Answer 4

(I'm being as objective as I possibly can so please try not to gauge if I'm for it or against it. ^^)

Though if it passed, would it be veto'd once it was passed?

In government you can't have one branch of government pass or 'outlaw' something without another agreeing. (And even then it's not enough.)

There are many in the military sector and in government that claim it works and is a tool.

They teach many special ops soldiers that, "They will break under torture." Why do they teach this? It's because, at times, torture works. Cutting off limbs, pulling teeth, inflecting pain to onces body, or mind tends to work on some.

Does that make it ethical? That's the question that so many are having a hard time debating.

If torture does work and saves ten thousand people, or a hundred, or ten... It is something that should be done?

Or is making someone feel as if they are about to die never justified?

Congress is not only made up of those against water-boarding, there are some that are for it. And the debate is not only heated, but a complex one.

Which makes it a issue that many are passionate about and it's hard to find middle ground with it.

Answer 5

Because the biggest flaw with democrats is that they don't want to appear weak when the republicans call them that. By outlawing it, the right will just say that the democrats think that the "terrorists" should be treated better, even though they killed people on 9/11. Dems have no back bone, and they cave every time... instead of pointing out that the terrorists have better health care than the richest of americans.

Answer 6

Because it already is illegal. as torture. In both international and US law.
It just isn't being prosecuted.
* In 1947, the United States prosecuted a Japanese military officer, Yukio Asano, for carrying out a form of waterboarding on a U.S. civilian during World War II. Yukio Asano received a sentence of 15 years of hard labor.[13] The charges of Violation of the Laws and Customs of War against Asano also included "beating using hands, fists, club; kicking; burning using cigarettes; strapping on a stretcher head downward."[55]

* In its 2005 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, the U.S. Department of State formally recognized "submersion of the head in water" as torture in its examination of Tunisia's poor human rights record, [56] and critics of waterboarding draw parallels between the two techniques, citing the similar usage of water on the subject.

* On September 6, 2006, the United States Department of Defense released a revised Army Field Manual entitled Human Intelligence Collector Operations that prohibits the use of waterboarding by U.S. military personnel. The department adopted the manual amid widespread criticism of U.S. handling of prisoners in the War on Terrorism, and prohibits other practices in addition to waterboarding. The revised manual applies only to U.S. military personnel, and as such does not apply to the practices of the CIA.[57] However, under international law, violators of the laws of war are criminally liable under the command responsibility, and could still be prosecuted for war crimes.[58]

Answer 7

It already is illegal. There is plenty of precedence from US courts - both military and civilian - that have determined waterboarding to be torture.
The problem is not the law - it is this government's blatant disregard for the law.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/02/AR2007110201170_pf.html

Answer 8

Outlawing anything is difficult, especially when we got a president who would love to use torture in Cuban prisons. Besides the Congress would have to have a 3/4 vote just to get the bill to our soon-to-be-gone president.

Answer 9

They don't have the 60 votes to over ride Bushies certain veto. Who do you think ordered it in the first place? I'll give you a hint, it rhymes with Commander in Chief. (Boss man)

Answer 10

because they want to yell about it--to make military-look bad-so the Democrats that hate the military--and America well vote for them-but they know it work's--and that's why they not stop it--they know there life may depend on the tactics some day--most of that Washington Democrats Say -is for the hate America bunch--witch have notion to do with reality--or the real world