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| - Drafting of the manual reflected concerns about enhanced interrogation techniques and/or torture, such as water boarding, that followed after a 2003 memo by John Yoo determined that the wartime authority of the U.S. president overrode international agreements against torture. Revision of the manual from the previous FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation followed passage of a law in 2005, pressed by Senator John McCain, that caused interrogation techniques not included in the manual to be considered illegal for the U.S. Army, but not for the CIA. Therefore, the release of the manual was seen to prohibit Army personnel from methods such as mock executions, sexual humiliation, hooding prisoners and "waterboarding". On March 8, 2008 president George W. Bush vetoed a bill, supported by Democrats
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| abstract
| - Drafting of the manual reflected concerns about enhanced interrogation techniques and/or torture, such as water boarding, that followed after a 2003 memo by John Yoo determined that the wartime authority of the U.S. president overrode international agreements against torture. Revision of the manual from the previous FM 34-52 Intelligence Interrogation followed passage of a law in 2005, pressed by Senator John McCain, that caused interrogation techniques not included in the manual to be considered illegal for the U.S. Army, but not for the CIA. Therefore, the release of the manual was seen to prohibit Army personnel from methods such as mock executions, sexual humiliation, hooding prisoners and "waterboarding". On March 8, 2008 president George W. Bush vetoed a bill, supported by Democrats and opposed by John McCain, which would have restricted the CIA to the techniques in the manual. Disputes during the manual's preparation included whether a section on interrogation techniques would remain classified, and whether the Geneva conventions ban on "humiliating and degrading treatment" would be removed. Executive Order 13491, issued by Barack Obama on January 22, 2009 (two days after Obama's inauguration) revoked Executive Order 13440 of July 20, 2007. It restricted the CIA and other Executive Agencies to proceed with interrogations "strictly in accord with the principles, processes, conditions, and limitations [Army Field Manual 2 22.3] prescribes". Persons associated with the U.S. government were advised that they could rely on the manual, but could not rely upon "any interpretation of the law governing interrogation -- including interpretations of Federal criminal laws, the Convention Against Torture, Common Article 3, Army Field Manual 2 22.3, and its predecessor document, Army Field Manual 34 52 issued by the Department of Justice between September 11, 2001, and January 20, 2009." This order restricted the CIA and all other U.S. personnel to the same rules that the military uses in interrogations. Newsweek described the impact of this and three other executive orders issued shortly after Obama's inauguration as "The End of Torture", calling Obama's decision to restrict the CIA to the Army Field Manual "his most far-reaching and potentially controversial move" among these, and the subject of internal debate among Obama advisors. Others expressed doubt about the policies, citing that in six months an interagency commission, headed by the U.S. Attorney General, may recommend "additional or different guidance" for non-military agencies such as the CIA. The Center for Constitutional Rights, one group that represents detainees, termed the commission an "escape hatch" for returning to previous practices. The Wall Street Journal termed this the "Jack Bauer exception", saying that Obama was drawing a line where none really existed, citing that Bush officials have stated that they used water boarding only against three top al-Qaida officials in 2003, and saying that the real effect was that CIA interrogators were purchasing legal insurance.
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