After signing a bill last week that outlaws the torture of detainees, President Bush quietly stated that under his powers as commander in chief, he has the ability to bypass the law whenever he deems appropiate.

Well, that didn’t sit so well with Congress, and yesterday an article appeared in the Boston Globe about three GOP senators who have condemned the president’s recent assertion.

John W. Warner Jr., a Virginia Republican who chairs the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, issued a joint statement rejecting Bush’s assertion that he can waive the restrictions on the use of cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment against detainees to protect national security.

‘’We believe the president understands Congress’s intent in passing, by very large majorities, legislation governing the treatment of detainees,” the senators said. ‘’The Congress declined when asked by administration officials to include a presidential waiver of the restrictions included in our legislation. Our committee intends through strict oversight to monitor the administration’s implementation of the new law.”

Separately, the third primary sponsor of the detainee treatment law, Senator Lindsey O. Graham, Republican of South Carolina, told the Globe in a phone interview that he agreed with everything McCain and Warner said ‘’and would go a little bit further.”

‘’I do not believe that any political figure in the country has the ability to set aside any . . . law of armed conflict that we have adopted or treaties that we have ratified,” Graham said. ‘’If we go down that road, it will cause great problems for our troops in future conflicts because [nothing] is to prevent other nations’ leaders from doing the same.”

One has to wonder . . . . is there any action Bush believes he can’t exercise under his “powers as commander in chief”? The answer seems to be “apparently not.” The current situation boils down to:

Congress: We’re going to pass a law that outlaws torture and closes every loophole: no torture no matter what the circumstances.

Bush: I’m signing this law but I can ignore it whenever I want.

Anyway, you can read the rest of the Globe article here/