Legislation championed by Sen. John McCain to stop physical abuse of prisoners held in U.S. custody around the world was signed into law nine days ago by President Bush. It marks the third time in 30 years that Congress has voted to prohibit torture. Twice before, in 1975 and 1994, investigations of horrific abuse, secret prisons and CIA complicity led to legislation with hidden loopholes — a history we may be about to repeat.
Alfred W. McCoy is professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the author of “A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror.”