Bush forced to ban torture

This week Senator John McCain, backed by strong majorities in both houses of Congress, was able to force the Whitehouse to agree to a ban torture by the US government (with the exception of the CIA). The ban is contained in the Defense Spending bill, which was held up in Congress for months past the usual date, largely due to resistance by Vice President Dick Cheney.

The LA Times explains the political process well, the way in which the Bush administration was forced to accept the reality that the American public would not stand behind institutionalized torture.

Ironic, that a Whitehouse so possessed by Christian fervor, was so unable to accept McCain's personal appeal, based in his painful experience in Hanoi as prisoner of war, to "turn the other cheek" to torture.