Donald Trump (in)famously vowed that if he becomes president, this country would start using enhanced interrogation techniques once again–including waterboarding. He seemed to come to his senses before doubling down on that vow later in 2016. Well, if he tries to make good on that promise, he’s going to run into a very large roadblock–John McCain.
McCain took part in a roundtable discussion on NATO at the Halifax International Security Forum on Saturday, and the discussion quickly turned to torture. Watch here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1IS38JIFY4&t
Moderator Robin Shepherd asked McCain what powers Congress had to stop a president “who does things which you find intolerable”–such as waterboarding and torture. McCain told the audience that a year before, he had cosponsored an amendment to the defense authorization bill that effectively banned the use of “enhanced interrogation techniques” by limiting the use of interrogation techniques specified by the Army Field Manual. That document, in turn, does not recognize waterboarding or “extremes in temperature” as legitimate means of interrogation.
Combined with the Geneva Conventions, McCain said, there is virtually no legal justification to resume such tactics. He added that if they did so, “there’s a whole bunch of us that would have them in court in a New York minute”–and no judge could possibly find that such tactics are legal.
McCain then gave a very sobering warning to Trump.
“So I don’t give a damn what the president of the United States wants to do, or what anybody else wants to do. We. Will. Not. Waterboard. We will not torture.”
He then told the audience that torture simply doesn’t work. He noted that anyone enduring significant pain will tell you “whatever they think you want to hear” just to get the interrogators to back off. He cited Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who gave a number of bogus responses after being waterboarded and deprived of sleep. Those answers sent the CIA and the armed forces into “wild goose chases.” It made McCain loudly wonder, “What does it say about America if we’re going to inflict torture on people?”
McCain’s amendment, which was cosponsored by Democrat Dianne Feinstein, passed overwhelmingly, 79-21. Trump would have been embarking on a fool’s errand if he thought he could convince 29 Republicans to reverse their votes on this bill. Notably, it gained support from some of the most conservative members of the Senate–Ted Cruz, Ron Johnson, John Boozman, and Pat Toomey, among others. It should be noted that Jeff Sessions, Trump’s pick for attorney general, was one of the nays–another strike against him.
But McCain’s statement likely means any designs Trump has of bringing back torture will be DOA if it comes before the Senate Armed Services Committee, of which McCain is chairman. Seven of the returning Republicans on that committee–McCain, Roger Wicker, Mike Rounds, Thom Tillis, Dan Sullivan, Lindsey Graham, and Cruz–voted for the ban on torture. Barring anything unforeseen, not even Trump’s vaunted dealmaking skills will be enough to make America torture again.
(featured image courtesy Chad McNeeley, part of public domain)
