Deal on Detainees Unites Republicans

The details are out on the compromise agreement between the President and Republican Senators on the detainee issue. Senator McCain, appearing on the “Today” show this morning, told NBC News that a deal reached with President Bush will lead to fair trials and interrogations but not torture. McCain was quoted as saying “We got what we wanted, and that is the preservation of the Geneva Conventions. There will be no more torture. There will be no more mistreatment of prisoners that would violate standards of conduct we would expect of people who work for the United States of America.”

The question will be asked, does this compromise agreement in order to get Congress’ authority to conduct military tribunals, compromise the President’s ability to successfully obtain critical information from detainees. I think that Liz Mair’s summary analysis of the detainee deal as “not perfect, but acceptable” to both sides was well stated.

I suspect that McCain will take heat from the far right on this issue during the campaign. But the end result was a compromise that appears acceptable from both viewpoints -- not perfect, but acceptable. And that is what compromise is all about, and why John McCain is the best chance for this country to have a leader that can pull people with opposing viewpoints together.