Republican and Democrat politicians toured Guantanamo Bay today, and even the looniest of the bunch (i.e. Sheila Jackson Lee) had to grudgingly admit it didn’t seem all that bad: Pols: Gitmo Conditions Have Improved. (Hat tip: efuseakay.)

GUANTANAMO BAY NAVAL BASE, Cuba  — Progress has been made to improve conditions and protect detainees’ rights at the U.S. prison for suspected terrorists, House Republicans and Democrats, including one who has advocated closing the facility, said Saturday.

The U.S. lawmakers witnessed interrogations, toured cell blocks and ate the same lunch given to detainees on the first congressional visit to the prison for suspected terrorists since criticism of it intensified in the spring.

“The Guantanamo we saw today is not the Guantanamo we heard about a few years ago,” said Rep. Ellen Tauscher, D-Calif.

Still, lawmakers from both parties agree more still must be done to ensure an adequate legal process is in place to handle detainee cases. In the meantime, said Rep. Joe Schwarz, R-Mich., “I think they’re doing the best they can to define due process here.”

Republicans and Democrats alike fear the prison at the U.S. Navy base in eastern Cuba is hurting the United States’ image because of claims that interrogators have abused and tortured inmates. The White House and Pentagon say conditions are humane and detainees are well-treated. Lawmakers wanted to see for themselves.

After getting a classified briefing from base commanders, the House delegation ate lunch with troops — the same meal of chicken with orange sauce, rice and okra that detainees were served. They then toured several of the barbed-wire camps where detainees are housed, viewing small cells, dusty recreation yards and common areas.

From behind one-way mirrors, lawmakers watched interrogators grilling three individual terror suspects. None of the interrogators touched detainees.

In one session, they questioned a man who defense officials said was a Saudi national and admitted Al Qaeda member who was picked up in Afghanistan and knew nine of the Sept. 11, 2001, hijackers. In another, a female interrogator took an unusual approach to wear down a detainee, reading a Harry Potter book aloud for hours. He turned his back and put his hands over his ears.

Here we see the dreaded slippery slope in action; from Christina Aguilera music, to puppet shows, to this horror. Where will our super slide into Nazi-like behavior end?

Bearded detainees in white frocks, flip-flops and skull caps quietly lingered nearby, although behind fences. At one communal camp for those given privileges because of good behavior, detainees played soccer.

Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, is one of many Democrats who have called for an independent commission to investigate abuse allegations and said the facility should close. She stopped short of changing her position after the visit, but acknowledged, “What we’ve seen here is evidence that we’ve made progress.”

The only effect this will have on the Amazing Lefty Torture Chorus will be to make them sing louder. La la la! I can’t hear you! Abu Ghraib!

UPDATE at 6/25/05 5:46:28 pm:

Nothing about this tour of glamorous Guantanamo at Daily Kos. Hmm. I would have thought that with their highly publicized Gitmo Easter Egg Hunt, they’d be interested in a story like this.

That Harry Potter thing, at least, is pretty bad. Read by a woman, too. And the inmates could get seriously injured playing soccer.