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GUEST: Lisa Hajjar, Professor in the Law and Society Program at the University of California, Santa Barbara, author of “Courting Conflict: The Israeli Military Court System in the West Bank and Gaza,” and editor of “Middle East Report.”

Late last week, the House Judiciary Committee endorsed President Bush’s plan to legalize torture during interrogations and trials of foreign terrorism suspects. The plan was initially voted down with a few Republicans defecting. The vote was then repeated at a time when two Democrats were absent, and passed by a single vote, 19-20 in favor of Bush’s plan. Three prominent Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee led by John McCain, had earlier raised strong objections to the White House language on the Geneva Conventions. Their disagreement centers mainly on how to square the CIA’s techniques with the Geneva Conventions, which say wartime detainees must be treated humanely.