Trying to quell an ongoing furor, Sen. Dick Durbin partially apologized Friday for remarks he made on the Senate floor this week comparing American treatment of prisoners at the Guantanamo Bay detention center to the tactics of murderous regimes.
"I have learned from my statement that historical parallels can be misused and misunderstood," Durbin, D-Ill., said in a written release. "I sincerely regret if what I said caused anyone to misunderstand my true feelings: Our soldiers around the world and their families at home deserve our respect, admiration and total support."
Durbin has been on the receiving end of an onslaught of criticism from the White House, from Republican colleagues in the Senate, from conservative media stars such as Rush Limbaugh and from voters.
That criticism was sparked by a lengthy floor speech Durbin delivered late Tuesday in which he took the administration to task for its mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay. Durbin read aloud from an FBI agent's detailed e-mail complaining about the "torture techniques" visited upon one al-Qaida prisoner.
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