Let’s Go To The Videotape

Want another example of Mike’s thesis that Bush has lost his congressional mojo? Yesterday the House approved a measure sponsored by Rush Holt (D-NJ) to videotape all interrogations of detained enemy combatants. It’s an anti-torture maneuver that also strengthens both the rule of law (ensuring the fruits of interrogations are admissible in court) and intelligence collection (instant quality-control standard, and helpful for deriving lessons-learned), so naturally Bush opposed it.

From a Holt press release:

Holt’s amendment would require the videorecording of each strategic interrogation of any person who is in the custody of the DOD or under detention in a DOD facility. These records would be kept at the appropriate level of classification, and would be available to intelligence personnel who could examine them for any potential intelligence benefit. The bill explicitly states that troops in the field in contact with the enemy shall not be required to videotape or otherwise electronically record tactical questioning sessions of detainees. The Senate must now approve the bill.

“Multiple studies have documented the benefits of the videoretaping or electronic recording of interrogations, and law enforcement organizations across the U.S. routinely use the practice both to protect the person being interrogated and the officer conducting the interrogations,” Holt said. “This amendment strengthens previous laws passed by Congress regarding the treatment of detainees and will help maximize our intelligence collection from such interrogations.”