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Originally posted by nononono
There are all kinds of reasons to pass legislation, not the least of which may be an attempt to preempt legislation running the other direction. I'm trying to understand whether this is all about 5 people caught in the crossfire + media, or whether we're running out of control, torturing innocents willy-nilly.
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At least in part, it's about Bush trying to help Republicans win in the fall elections. This issue didn't need to wait until after Labor Day.
It's not an effort to preempt legislation running the other way. The law has been very clear that (e.g.) waterboarding is not allowed. To get around the law, people in the Executive Branch have relied on presidential authorization, relying on legal (non-judicial) opinions based on a broad reading of the President's powers under Article II. This gave people a good defense to any prosecution. But the Supreme Court's decision in Hamdi overrules those opinions.
No one really knows how many people the CIA has been holding overseas. Bush's position was that it harmed national security to acknowledge the prisons, until he told people about them, at which point it had apparently become OK.
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