On September 16, 2005, Captain Ian Feshback, U.S. Army, wrote a letter to Senator John McCain asking for clarification of government standards for treatment of detainees.  He had served in Afghanistan and Iraq and was led to believe that U.S. Policy approved non compliance with the Geneva Conventions. After reading statements from Donald Rumsfeld to the contrary, he sought to resolve the conflict between his personal experience and the testimony of Rumsfeld.  

Over a 17-month period, he consulted his chain of command through battalion commander, multiple JAG lawyers, Democrat and Republican Congressmen and aides, multiple government reports and general officers, the Secretary of the Army, a professional interrogator at Guantanamo Bay, and the deputy head of the department at West Point responsible for teaching Just War Theory and Law of Land Warfare.

He was unable to get clear, consistent answers from these sources about " what constitutes lawful and humane treatment of detainees".  He believed that the confusion he felt must have been shared by others and thus "contributed to a wide range of abuses including death threats, beatings, broken bones, murder, exposure to the elements", among other acts.  He had resolved, as a West Point cadet, to ensure that his men would never commit a dishonorable act. He was heartbroken that he had "failed" some of them in this case.

He then wrote to Senator John McCain asking that the Senator work to  eliminate the confusion and devise clear standards "in accordance with the bedrock principles of our nation". He wrote, "Some do not see the need for this work.  Some argue that since our actions are not as horrifying as Al Qaeda's, we should not be concerned.  When did Al Qaeda become any type of standard by which we measure the morality of the United States?"  

He also acknowledged that others might argue that clear standards would limit the President's ability to "wage the War on Terror". He answered this by stating that these standards would limit only interrogation techniques and nothing else.  He concluded with a powerful expression of his strong moral stance, "I would rather die fighting than give up even the smallest part of the idea that is 'America'". 

Senator McCain quickly shared this letter with his colleagues on the Senate Armed Services Committee. By mid-December they passed an amendment to ban torture of detainees.