DEMOCRATS HAVE SLIPPED INTO THE 2010 INTELLIGENCE AUTHORIZATION ACT (H.R. 2701) a new provision that would establish criminal punishments for CIA agents and other intelligence officials who engage in "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" during interrogations.

It covers "any officer or employee of the intelligence community" who, during an interrogation, engages in beatings, the infliction pain, forced sexual acts, inducing hypothermia, conducting mock executions or "depriving the [detainee] of necessary food, water, sleep, or medical care." The bill gives Congress flexibility in defining just what those terms mean, and it would provide for punishments of up to 20 years in prison and life behind bars if a detainee dies as a result of the interrogation.

Unless the CIA officer’s name is “Jack Bauer” and he works out of the Hollywood office.