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So forgive me if I'm off base but the main justification that I can come up with for backing off the "Field Manual" language is that the Field manual is not classified and can therefore be trained against. Perhaps I'm being naively optimistic but I happen to beleive that its possible to write a law that will effectively outlaw torture while providing interrogators with the comfort of knowing that their captors aren't sure what they're facing. The problem isn't writing such a law. The problem is actually subjecting CIA agents and soldiers to punishment if they fail to comply. As you have amply documented, such a result is almost unthinkable among Washington insiders.
