Barry: Congress has been AWOL on Iraq

[Inland]

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/chi-0512180299dec18,0,5318528.story?coll=chi-newsopinionperspective-hed

************

In four years, the Senate and the House have been absent without leave. There has been virtually no effective oversight of the administration's conduct of the war on terrorism. True, there were a few hearings and some rhetoric about the way some of our military and civilian personnel in Iraq and elsewhere have treated detainees, particularly after the Abu Ghraib photos came out.

But since Sept. 11 there have been few oversight hearings and no significant legislation that would limit the administration's freedom to do whatever it pleases in combating terrorism.

Now, the Senate finally has begun to weigh in, particularly in the Defense Department funding bill now under consideration. Sen. John McCain's amendment to the bill, which calls for standards and limits on interrogation and requires U.S. personnel not use cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment (read torture) against any person in U.S. custody, passed overwhelmingly in the Senate.

***********