So far, the silent acquiescence with which Americans have greeted President George W. Bush's open assertion of a right to torture some prisoners evokes memories of the unconscionable behavior of "obedient Germans" of the 1930s and early 1940s. Thankfully, despite the hate whipped up by administration propagandists against people branded "terrorists," polling conducted last year showed that most Americans reject torturing prisoners. Almost two-thirds held that torture is never acceptable.

Yet few speak out, perhaps because President Bush says he too, is against torture, and our domesticated media have successfully hidden from most of us the fact that the president has added a highly significant qualification. On February 7, 2002, the president issued an order instructing our armed forces "to treat detainees humanely and, to the extent appropriate and consistent with military necessity, in a manner consistent with the principles of Geneva" (emphasis added). In the preceding paragraph, the president determined that Taliban and al-Qaeda detainees "do not qualify as prisoners of war." Never mind that there is no provision in the Geneva Conventions for such a unilateral determination.

More recently, Warner joined two other Republican senators, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, in attempts to introduce amendments against torture to the defense authorization bill. The amendments would require that U.S. forces revert to the standards set forth in Army Field Manual (FM 34-52) for interrogating detainees held by the Defense Department. The manual prohibits the use of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment. Another amendment discussed would require that all foreign nationals "be registered with the International Committee of the Red Cross." This would prohibit sequestering unregistered "ghost detainees" at prisons like Abu Ghraib and secret CIA interrogation centers.

Inured as I thought I had become to outrageous behavior at the top of the Bush administration, I found its reaction shocking. On the evening of July 21, Vice President Dick Cheney went to Capitol Hill to dissuade the three senators from proceeding with the amendments. But the senators have not been cowed"not yet, at least. Four days later on the floor of the Senate, John McCain – who knows something of torture – made a poignant appeal to his colleagues to hold our country to humane standards in treating captives, "no matter how evil or terrible" they may be. "This is not about who they are. This is about who we are," said McCain.