Cheney and Terrorism

The White House is attempting to block legislation that prohibits "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" of prisoners, called detainees ( a euphemism for "Can we detain you for the rest of your life without telling you or anyone else why?"). Legislators, including John McCain, have proposed several amendments to the current spending bill that would limit treatment to the current specifications in the Army manual. Our Vice-President is against this, saying that such restrictions would limit the President's authority to fight against terrorism. In Wapo:

One McCain amendment would set uniform standards for interrogating anyone detained by the Defense Department and would limit interrogation techniques to those listed in the Army field manual on interrogation, now being revised. Any changes to procedures would require the defense secretary to appear before Congress.

Apparently Cheney thinks "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" is not only acceptable, but a necessary tool in our war against terrorists. A Prisoner of War like McCain knows otherwise.