By AP/KWMU
Washington, D.C. – Illinois Senator Dick Durbin Tuesday apologized for comparing the actions of American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis and other infamous regimes.
His voice cracked with emotion as he made his apology on the Senate floor to those who were offended by his poor choice of words.
Afterward, Arizona Republican Senator John McCain said Durbin did the right and courageous thing, adding "he hoped the issue can be put behind us." Durbin has been under pressure to apologize from the White House, Senate Republicans and fellow Democrats since making his remarks on June 14.
Durbin read an FBI agent's report describing detainees at the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, as being chained to the floor without food or water in extreme temperatures. He said if he hadn't revealed it was FBI report, listeners would believe actions were done by Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or Pol Pot.