Congress Approves New Torture Plan

Un-freakin-believable:

HUMAN RIGHTS -- DETAINEE AGREEMENT ALLOWS 'SCENIC ROUTE' TO TORTURE:

"We're all winners," Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) said about the recent agreement on detainee legislation, "because we've been able to come to an agreement through a process of negotiations and consensus."

"But the details - not to mention crowing from the White House - indicate that the administration is walking off with a major victory while allowing the Senate to save face."

The White House agreed "not to reinterpret the Geneva Conventions," but the legislation "would give the president explicit authority to interpret 'the meaning and application' of the relevant provisions in Common Article 3."

The War Crimes Act will now include a list of "grave breaches" of the conventions, while the president "could decide on his own what actions might be a lesser breach...and what interrogation techniques he considered permissible."

The legislation "would permit CIA interrogators to use harsh techniques critics call torture."

"In effect, the agreement means that U.S. violations of international human rights law can continue as long as Mr. Bush is president, with Congress's tacit assent."

The administration admitted it had gotten exactly what it wanted from the Senate.

"We proposed a more direct approach to bringing clarification," Dan Bartlett said. "This one is more of the scenic route, but it gets us there."