Bush pushes for interrogation tools
President Bush, during a press conference in the Rose Garden, on Friday, Sept. 15, 2006, at the White House. (AP / Ron Edmonds)
Washington - Facing a GOP revolt in the Senate, President Bush urged Congress today to join in backing legislation to spell out strategies for interrogating and trying terror suspects, saying "the enemy wants to attack us again." "Time is running out," Bush said in a Rose Garden news conference. "Congress needs to act wisely and promptly."
Bush denied that the United States might lose the high ground in the eyes of world opinion, as former Secretary of State Colin Powell suggested.
"It's unacceptable to think there's any kind of comparison between the behavior of the United States of America and the action of Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve an objective," said Bush, growing animated as he spoke.
Bush's comments came a day after Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee broke with the administration and approved a bill for detention and trial of foreign terrorism suspects. Bush claims the measure would compromise the war on terrorism.
He is urging the Senate to pass a bill more like a House-passed one that would allow his administration to continue holding and trying terror suspects before military tribunals.
Bush said he would work with Congress to resolve the disputed language, but stood firm on his demands.
"If not for this program, our intelligence community believes al Qaida and its allies would have succeeded in launching another attack against the American homeland," he said.
"Unfortunately the recent Supreme Court decision put the future of this program in question. ... We need this legislation to save it." The high court earlier this year struck down Bush's current arrangement for trying detainees held at the U.S. Naval Base Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Bush said that it was vital to change the law to protect intelligence professionals who are called on to question detainees to obtain vital information. "They don't want to be tried as war criminals. ... They expect our government to give them clarity about what is right and what is wrong." He called it an important debate that "defines whether or not we can protect ourselves. Congress has got a decision to make." Meanwhile, foreign ministers of the European Union today called on the United States to respect international law in its handling of terror suspects after Bush acknowledged his country had run secret prisons abroad.
"We reiterate that in combatting terrorism, human rights and human standards have to be maintained," said Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, speaking on behalf of the 25 EU ministers.
"We acknowledge the intention of the U.S. administration to treat all detainees in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Convention." Four Republicans, led by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., joined Democrats on Thursday on the Armed Services Committee and voted 15-9 for the measure that Bush opposes.
"As we work with the international community to defeat the terrorists and the extremists to provide an alternative to their hateful ideology, we must also provide our military and intelligence professionals with the tools they need to protect our country from another attack," Bush said. "And the reason they need those tools is because the enemy wants to attack us again." The dissident group led by McCain - and backed by Powell, Bush's first-term secretary of state - said Bush's approach would jeopardize the safety of U.S. troops.
Powell said Bush's proposal to redefine the Geneva Conventions would encourage the world to "doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism" and "put our own troops at risk." It was Bush's first news conference since Aug. 21, when he said the Iraq war was "straining the psyche of our country" but that leaving now would be a disaster. Bush has made the struggle against terrorism and the war in Iraq the top issues in the November elections, hoping to persuade voters that Republicans are better than Democrats at protecting the country.
Bush's voice rose and he chopped the air with his right hand several times as he spoke on Iraq. He denied anew that the surge in sectarian violence meant a civil war.
On other subjects, Bush: - All but acknowledged one of his top domestic priorities - immigration law overhaul - was essentially dead for now amid disputes on Capitol Hill. When will there be action? "I don't know the timetable. ... My answer is as soon as possible is what I'd like to see done." - Said he will signal at the United Nations next week firm U.S.
opposition to delaying nuclear negotiations with Iran. "I have made it clear that we will sit down with the Iranians once they verifiably suspend their enrichment program. I meant what I said." He said he won't meet with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who also will be at the United Nations next week.
- Cited a "level of frustration" with the United Nations, both on dealing with the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan and with spending its money wisely.
- Responded, "I wouldn't exactly put it that way" when asked if he agreed with comments by House Majority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, that Democrats "are more interested in protecting the terrorists than protecting the American people." But, he said, "there's a difference in attitude" between Republicans and Democrats.
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