A Sad Day in United States History
House unable to override Bush’s veto of waterboarding ban
House Democrats failed Tuesday to override President Bush’s veto of a ban on waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques, and they castigated the administration for subjecting prisoners to torture in the fight against terrorism.
A quote from an email from the American Freedom Campaign on this sad situation:
Unfortunately, the vote to override the veto failed, 225-188, falling 51 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed. This means that the CIA will NOT be held to the standard of conduct set out in the Army Field Manual – a standard deemed appropriate by many military leaders, including Gen. David Patraeus, the commanding general in Iraq.
A quote from that article pretty much sums up my feeling on such tactics:
“Torture is no proper tool in the arsenal of democracy,” said Rep. Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas) “If we abandon our American values, we lose who we are as Americans. . . . And if the administration and all of its apologists . . . continue to force America to abandon our values, we will lose the war.” Torture, he said, “is not only un-American, it is ineffective.”
See how the vote went and how your congressmen voted here.
