WASHINGTON: By refusing to agree to an all-out ban on the torture of terrorist suspects held in US custody, President Bush in recent months was triggering political problems for his administration at home and around the world. It took the assistance of an unlikely ally — Senator John McCain (Republican-Arizona), a rival in the 2000 Republican primaries — to give the White House the chance to repair the damage on both fronts.

The agreement reached on Thursday on legislation prohibiting the inhumane treatment of suspected terrorists in US custody marked a rare capitulation by a president who campaigned for reelection based on his self-styled resolve when it came to the war on terrorism.

But it was also a recognition that, 13 months after a solid victory at the polls that seemed to put Bush’s White House in position to make transformational policy changes, the president is approaching his highest priority — fighting terrorism — from a position of political weakness.

And as GOP leaders are fighting among themselves over immigration, the war in Iraq and the rebuilding of the Gulf Coast, the crucial role played by McCain only accentuated his standing as a front-runner for the party’s presidential nomination in 2008.

The agreement came after weeks of intense negotiations between McCain and national security adviser Stephen Hadley — discussions that began only after it was clear that heavy lobbying by Vice President Dick Cheney to exempt, in some circumstances, the CIA from a torture ban was making no headway among lawmakers.

White House officials could not avoid the sting as both GOP-controlled houses of Congress backed McCain’s proposal with veto-proof majorities, even though Bush had threatened to make the issue cause for the first veto of his presidency.

The vote in the House on Wednesday came despite White House hopes that Bush’s recent series of speeches on the war in Iraq — along with Thursday’s national elections there — would boost his faltering approval ratings and give the president renewed moral authority on the fight against terrorism.

Several recent polls showed Bush’s approval ratings rising slightly, but most Republicans on Capitol Hill were clearly more impressed at the moment by McCain’s past — a former POW in Vietnam who was himself tortured — and his future as a potential president.

Analysts said Bush also could not avoid pressure from overseas, particularly from European allies who had vehemently opposed what they viewed as a US administration that backed the torture of terrorist suspects.

Thursday’s agreement, experts say, marked a recognition by the White House that the US image overseas mattered in world diplomacy, particularly in the aftermath of the abuse scandal at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, the denial of US court trials to detainees held at the naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and headlines around the world about the secret prisons.

Bush and other White House officials have repeatedly said throughout the debate that the United States does not engage in torture, even as they argued for an exemption from a ban on torture in certain cases.

But Thursday’s deal demonstrated the realization that the administration’s attempts at nuance were not translating well in the court of world opinion.

The deal shows that the United States ‘upholds values and standards of behaviour and treatment of all people, no matter how evil or bad they are’, McCain said on Thursday.

White House officials argued on Thursday that they still got much of what they had sought — language shielding interrogators from some prosecution.

Bush went out of his way to illustrate his newfound closeness with his onetime opponent.

The two sat in chairs in front of the Oval Office fireplace, a backdrop typically used for meetings with world leaders. “You’re a good man who honours the values of America,” Bush said.

After each man made his remarks, the president reached out his hand.

At first, the senator didn’t notice, but Bush persisted, holding his arm in the air until McCain grasped his hand with a firm shake. —Dawn/Los Angeles Times News Service