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THE Bush White House is locked in an acrimonious debate with Republican senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and John Warner over legislation to establish military commissions for the trial and punishment of captured terrorists. At issue are two competing forms of such legislation: the administration’s proposal and an alternative that has emerged from the Senate Armed Services Committee. To the casual observer, the differences between the two bills may seem trivial. Both answer the Supreme Court’s ill-judged decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which invalidated the military-commission rules originally established by presidential order. Both also try to preserve a CIA program authorizing the use of stressful interrogation methods against “high value” terror detainees, such as 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM). In fact, the differences between the proposals are significant, and reflect contrasting visions of international law, especially on the question

Messrs. Rivkin and Casey are partners in the Washington, D.C., office of Baker & Hostetler LLP. They served in the Justice Department during the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations.

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David B. Rivkin Jr.

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Lee A. Casey

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THE Bush White House is locked in an acrimonious debate with Republican senators John McCain, Lindsey Graham, and John Warner over legislation to establish military commissions for the trial and punishment of captured terrorists. At issue are two competing forms of such legislation: the administration’s proposal and an alternative that has emerged from the Senate Armed Services Committee. To the casual observer, the differences between the two bills may seem trivial. Both answer the Supreme Court’s ill-judged decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, which invalidated the military-commission rules originally established by presidential order. Both also try to preserve a CIA program authorizing the use of stressful interrogation methods against “high value” terror detainees, such as 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM). In fact, the differences between the proposals are significant, and reflect contrasting visions of international law, especially on the question

Messrs. Rivkin and Casey are partners in the Washington, D.C., office of Baker & Hostetler LLP. They served in the Justice Department during the Reagan and George H. W. Bush administrations.