McCain Feels the Conservative Heat

Senator McCain today went against his previous word and voted no on a bill that would ban waterboarding:

The Senate voted 51 to 45 on Wednesday afternoon to ban waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods used by the Central Intelligence Agency against high-level terrorism suspects.

Senate Republicans generally opposed the bill, but several of them also did not want to cast a vote that could be construed as supporting torture, and so were relying on President Bush to make good on a threat to veto legislation limiting C.I.A. interrogation techniques.

...Mr. McCain, a former prisoner of war, has consistently voiced opposition to waterboarding and other methods that critics say is a form torture. But the Republicans, confident of a White House veto, did not mount the challenge. Mr. McCain voted “no” on Wednesday afternoon.

McCain could have chosen not to vote or voted "present" but sent a signal to Conservatives that he's trying to gain their trust. This vote was enormous in that quest.

Waterboarding is not torture, there's no chance of death or permanent injury and is one of the only tactics we have to get high-level al-Qaeda operatives to talk. It's been used selectively--exactly three times and all on big names such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and has proven effective.

The US doesn't torture and doesn't use assassination as a rule, yet we need to be able to get information quickly from these high-level targets and waterboarding is an effective means.

McCain was ballsy in voting down the amendemnt from Feinstein and it's got the nutroots all worked up. Of course the idiots who oppose waterboarding give us no other realistic options and what would their opinion be if we had an al-Qaeda leader who had the intel on a major plot, or worse yet, a nuke attack in their home city? Would they take the only available tool away from our intelligence services if it meant the death of themselves and their children? Would Feinstein feel the same if it were San Francisco that was targeted?

McCain had no option but to take a stand and get the Conservative vote in his favor because without us in November, he stand no chance against what is increasingly appearing to be Obama.