Coinky-dinky

Do you think these two stories are related? Keep in mind how long and how hard the White House has been fighting Sen. John McCain's anti-torture amendment.

Wednesday, December 14:

The U.S. Army has approved a new set of interrogation techniques that could complicate talks between Congress and the White House on legislation that would ban the torture and inhumane treatment of detainees, the New York Times reported on Wednesday.

Citing defense officials, the newspaper said the Army has created a classified addendum to a new Army field manual that gives detailed examples on what techniques may or may not be used in different situations. The manual was sent to Stephen Cambone, under secretary of defense for intelligence policy, for final approval this week, it said.

Some military officials said the addendum could be perceived as pushing the limits on legal interrogation and might anger Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, whose legislation banning "cruel, inhumane and degrading" treatment of detainees passed the Senate 90-9 in October over White House objections.

The newspaper said the officials are concerned that McCain, who was tortured while a prisoner of war in Vietnam, will see the new guidelines as an attempt to weaken the amendment, which sets the U.S. Army field manual as the standard for interrogations.

Thursday, December 15:

President Bush reversed course on Thursday and accepted Sen. John McCain's call for a law banning cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign suspects in the war on terror.

Bush said the agreement will "make it clear to the world that this government does not torture and that we adhere to the international convention of torture, whether it be here at home or abroad."

We're supposed to believe that after years of torturing ghost prisoners in black sites around the world, after weeks of publicly opposing McCain's anti-torture amendment, after threatening to veto the 2006 defense appropriations bill if the language were included, after pressuring congressmen to oppose the bill and negotiaing to exempt CIA personnel from its provisions, that the Bush administration suddenly, finally saw the light.

Yeah, and the Bush administration's tax cuts will benefit all Americans. We're not that dumb.

And neither is John McCain, which makes me wonder why McCain decided to make peace and appear at an Oval Office photo-op with George Bush after the Army approved classified changes to the field manual that probably will make his amendment meaningless. It was widely suspected that the changes would complicate negotiations between McCain and the White House. Yet a day after the changes were reported, an agreement was reached.

How relevant to this agreement is McCain's desire to be president? After all, he needs to be able to show voters results, that he objected to the misguided policies of the Bush administration and took action to stop them. He also needs the backing of the Republican party if he's to win its nomination in 2008, so he has to play ball at least occasionally. And if he wants to be president, he has a stake in not letting public opinion of the Bush administration fall too far, lest Bush drag the rest of the GOP down with him and allow a Democrat to win in '08 by virtue of not being a Republican.

Until we know specifics about that classified addendum, healthy skepticism feels pretty appropriate. After all, McCain is a politician who aspires to higher office. And he's a Republican. He may be one of the least offensive Republicans, but he's still a Republican.