By Associated Press
Washington, DC – Alabama's two G-O-P Senators -- Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby -- are taking President Bush's side in a dispute that has divided the Republican Party over how the government should interrogate and try suspected terrorists. Four Republicans on the Armed Services Committee, including panel Chairman John Warner of Virginia, and John McCain of Arizona, joined with Democrats yesterday to rebuff Bush's plan for spelling out new criteria for trying and interrogating enemy combatants under the Geneva Conventions. They said the White House measure would damage U-S standing in the world and subject U-S soldiers to abuse by other countries. The committee voted 15-9 to approve a McCain alternative that would guarantee foreign terrorism suspects broader protections. Sessions disputes the suggestion that the Bush Administration is trying to weaken international agreements or failing to comply.