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McCain: Straight Shooter or Bootlicker?

When a man survives torture in a prisoner of war camp, the scars of flesh and bone may stay forever, but not like those that are carved inside a soldier’s heart and mind. Many Americans and especially war veterans of Vietnam applauded John McCain’s seemingly unwavering support of the Geneva Conventions. Did the Senator from Arizona, John McCain, deserve their adulation?

The 1949 Geneva Convention provided prisoners an international law forbidding cruel, inhuman, humiliating or degrading treatment or punishment. And, under the federal War Crimes Act violators could be prosecuted. Last year, President Bush contended that the language of the Geneva Convention was "so vague that it's impossible" to continue the CIA interrogation program without redefining its interpretation.

Senator John McCain boldly voiced his objection and then days later behind closed doors, he proceeded to negotiate with President George Bush.

A Bush-McCain "compassionate torture" compromise resulted, which narrowed the scope of the War Crimes Act to include "only" acts intended not to cause severe or serious suffering. Acts of torture previously prohibited were then made available for interrogators to use. The retroactive “compassionate torture” agreement was also designed to safeguard the administration from prosecution and impeachment for past abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo.

While the compromise adopted McCain's language prohibiting violations of the Geneva Convention, the prohibition against torture became a meaningless statute without the power to protect the rights of prisoners. The scope of punishment and torture now rests with the President’s interpretation and removes any liability of violation from the War Crimes Act.

What happened to the Senator from Arizona? What happened to his commitment to honor the international law that he professed to venerate? Was he promised something in return? Is McCain the straight shooting Maverick from Arizona? Can you trust this man to be the next president of the United States of America?