Torture ban a powerful political statement but no guarantee: analysts

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WASHINGTON - An amendment before Congress forbidding “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment of detainees is a powerful political statement but not a guarantee torture won’t be used, analysts said on Friday.

With the amendment’s passage virtually assured, President George W. Bush on Thursday dropped his opposition to the ban and embraced it “to make it clear to the world that this government does not torture.”

But no sooner had Bush announced his support for the amendment authored by Senator John McCain, than Attorney General Alberto Gonzales raised questions about how the administration will interpret the ban. snip

“Given what we’ve seen at Abu Ghraib and other places, I’m not sure we can cede that kind of trust to the administration,” he said.