JOUR 61: Top News 6

I just read a story on MSNBC online that I think is very noteworthy. The article is entitled “Bush vetoes bill banning waterboarding”. It explains that President Bush has vetoed a bill, passed by Congress that would ban the CIA from using the interrogation technique of waterboarding on suspected terrorists. This is an important story because of the large amount of controversy both in the United States and across the world surrounding the interrogation techniques used by the United States. The administration claims that this interrogation method is not torture and that they do not torture. However, the United States has come under fire from human rights organizations across the globe for this and other methods of interrogation that they employ.

This story will also be high on the news agenda because it contains conflict between the President and the Democrat-controlled Congress who voted in favor of banning waterboarding. Furthermore, the conflict is going to continue, with those who voted for the ban now working to get a two-thirds majority in Congress to overturn the President’s veto. Indeed, members of Congress have already been openly critical of Bush for his veto.

The story also has currency, as the whole issue of the methods of interrogation used by the United States has been a major discussion point for some time now. The issue has also been high on the agenda very recently doe to the votes in Congress and in the Senate. The article also features a very prominent figure in the eyes of the reading public, President Bush. People are interested in what policy decisions he is going to take and how he is leading their country. The story also has impact as the topic of how the United States interrogates suspected terrorists affects the reputation of the United States abroad and could consequently affect how American tourists are treated when they travel abroad.