WASHINGTON, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- The White House, noting an anti-torture bill's popularity in Congress, is trying to alter the measure to make it harder to prosecute torture allegations.
The amendment being led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., won 90 votes in the U.S. Senate and enjoys strong support in the House, making it likely to survive a Bush administration veto threat. So, The New York Times said Wednesday, the White House has been negotiating with McCain to alter the measure.
McCain's current amendment, likely to end up as part of a defense spending bill, would create a standard for interrogation of detainees by U.S. personnel. The Bush administration has been seeking to have CIA personnel exempted, but McCain hasn't budged. The Times said Bush national security adviser Stephen Hadley has been in contact with McCain urging language to make it more difficult to prosecute intelligence operatives alleged to have violated the interrogation standards.
Members of the McCain Senate staff told the Wall Street Journal that, while the senator doesn't want to exempt any U.S. personnel, he has offered changes that allow for interrogators to provide a defense of following a lawful order in prisoner treatment.
