Where the law does not apply

Guantanamo Bay:

Bush administration lawyers, fighting a claim of torture by a Guantanamo Bay detainee, yesterday argued that the new law that bans cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody does not apply to people held at the military prison.

In federal court yesterday and in legal filings, Justice Department lawyers contended that a detainee at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, cannot use legislation drafted by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to challenge treatment that the detainee's lawyers described as "systematic torture."

Government lawyers have argued that another portion of that same law, the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, removes general access to U.S. courts for all Guantanamo Bay captives. Therefore, they said, Mohammed Bawazir, a Yemeni national held since May 2002, cannot claim protection under the anti-torture provisions.

In essence, there's no way to enforce the torture ban because those detainees have no right to sue in U.S. courts. So anything goes in Guantanamo.

I'm kind of interested to see how McCain reacts to this. Does he let it go, knowing that it would rankle conservatives if he fought and damage his suspected presidential run in 2008, or does he let it go and try to triumph the fact that he passed legislation at all?

At this point, he has yet to comment.