Torture: Is it an American Value?
by Rev. Dr. Scott Jones

Last week the Republicans got restless. After the Harriet Miers nomination, conservatives were up in arms against the President. There appears to be growing disagreement in the GOP over how to handle the Katrina rebuilding, increased government spending, the various scandals plaguing Republican leaders, and even the war.

I think that the biggest news story last week was that 43 Republican members of the Senate disagreed with the President on how to fight the war on terror, sending the signal that the administration is outside the mainstream when it comes to basic American values.

On Oct. 5, the Senate voted on the McCain amendment to the Defense Appropriations Bill. This amendment would set a standard in the Army Field Manual for interrogation of prisoners. The standard is: "No individual in the custody or under the physical control of the United States Government, regardless of nationality or physical location, shall be subject to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."

Sen. John McCain, a war hero and former POW, explained the reason for his amendment. Military personnel in the field had written to the United States Congress asking for clarification on how to carry out interrogations because the statements from the administration have led to confusion:

"I can understand why some administration lawyers might want ambiguity, so that every hypothetical option is theoretically open, even those the President has said he does not want to exercise. But war does not occur in theory, and our troops are not served by ambiguity. They are crying out for clarity. The Congress cannot shrink from this duty, we cannot hide our heads, pulling bills from the floor and avoiding votes. We owe it to our soldiers, during this time of war, to take a stand."

Sen. McCain went on to discuss the various treaties and conventions that the United States has entered into since World War II, all of which would hold the U. S. to a high standard of conduct. The problem has arisen, though, because the administration has interpreted that it still has a right to use whatever means it chooses in interrogations, despite these treaties. We've seen the results at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo. Sen. McCain said, "What all this means is that America is the only country in the world that asserts a legal right to engage in cruel and inhuman treatment."

The President has vowed to veto the Defense Appropriations Bill if the McCain amendment is attached. And the White House reaffirmed that position last week before and after the vote.

Despite the President's opposition, 43 members of his own party challenged his authority and ability to lead in the war on terror by voting for the McCain amendment that passed the Senate 90-9. In this age of partisan politics with values often being the issues separating red states from blue states, a vote like this is clear evidence that an overwhelming consensus exists about what America truly values, and the administration is outside that mainstream.

Only 9 senators voted against limiting interrogation techniques, including both Oklahoma Senators, Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn. Coburn explained his vote by saying he was against torture but was afraid the amendment would put at risk our intelligence officers. Inhofe rebuffed the amendment with these words to the Washington Post:

"I have made it clear that we are spending far too much of our time and effort on the prisoner abuse issue and not enough time on the quality of our interrogations. ... It is my feeling that the more we air this issue publicly, the more we are emboldening the terrorists. The more we talk about our methods of interrogation we must remember that the enemy is listening."

Sen. Inhofe seems to think that using our American values to keep interrogations from being "cruel, inhuman or degrading" would affect their "quality." And Coburn seems to want our field officers to employ "cruel, inhuman or degrading" techniques, if necessary. So, it would seem that these two esteemed senators value torture above human rights, decency and the rule of law.

If torture is an American value, then I hope we are a threat to it.

Me, I'll keep upholding those values like compassion, peace, freedom and love.

Rev. Dr. Scott Jones is the pastor of the Cathedral of Hope in Oklahoma City.