By Kathleen Kern

Arizona Sen. John McCain cannot comb his hair. He cannot lift his arms above shoulder level because of torture he suffered as a prisoner of war in Vietnam. A particularly sadistic Viet Cong prison guard would wrap ropes around his biceps to cut off his circulation, and cinch the end of the rope so that his elbows touched his shoulder blades. Left in that position for hours, McCain became permanently disabled.

In his 1999 biography, McCain wrote, “I discovered in prison that faith in myself alone, separate from other, more important allegiances, was ultimately no match for the cruelty that human beings could devise when they were entirely unencumbered by respect for the God-given dignity of man.”

McCain, after hearing about the abuses in Abu Ghraib prison, said that based on his personal experiences, “torture is not effective — people will tell you anything to end torture.”   

Brushing aside the Bush administration’s assertion that the Abu Ghraib abuses were the work of a few rogue army reservists, McCain asserted that the U.S. armed forces have the ability to prevent the torture of prisoners if officers want to.

I checked this claim out with a conservative Republican relative who had served in the Korean War. He agreed with McCain. For the Abu Ghraib abuses to continue as long as they did, he said, someone higher up must have condoned and encouraged them.

At the end of September, new revelations of abuse emerged. Cpt. Ian Fishback and two sergeants from the 82nd Airborne Division reported that soldiers beat, kicked and broke the bones of prisoners captured during the siege of Fallujah. They also doused the prisoners’ skin and eyes with chemicals and forced them to form human pyramids.

Fishback said he tried to get the army to recognize its violations of the Geneva Convention and asked that they train officers about handling prisoners. His superiors told him they could “skirt” the Geneva Conventions.  

He also contacted Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and spoke to Secretary of the Army Francis Harvey about the abuses. They gave him noncommittal responses, saying they were aware of his concern and taking corrective measures.

Rebuffed by his superiors, Fishback went to Human Rights Watch, which put him in touch with McCain and the Senate Armed Services committee. After he went to Washington to speak with McCain and the Senate’s Armed Services Committee, the army restricted him to Fort Bragg, denying him a pass for a return visit.

McCain and I don’t agree about much. He supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq, but he also understands torture. Accordingly, he, along with Republican senators Lindsey Graham (who was a military judge for 20 years) and John Warner proposed an amendment to a current defense bill requiring the military to abide by the Geneva Conventions regarding prisoners of war. They also wanted prohibitions against torture highlighted in the Army Field Manual.  

On Oct. 5, the senate voted 90-9 to approve the anti-torture amendment, despite the Bush administration’s promise to veto the bill if it contained the amendment. (Vetoing the bill would mean scrapping money for raises, benefits and equipment for soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.)

At the close of Senate floor debate over the amendment, McCain said, “Many of my comrades were subjected to very cruel, very inhumane and degrading treatment. A few of them even unto death. But every one of us — every single one of us — knew and took great strength from the belief that we were different from our enemies.”

Something is still working in Washington.