US President George W. Bush defended Friday the government
policies on detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects as
successful and lawful.
"When we find somebody who may have information regarding an
attack on America, you bet we're going to detain them, and you bet
we're going to question them," he said in his official Oval
Office.
US President George W. Bush
pauses during remarks on torture and the economy in the Oval Office
of the White House in Washington, October 5, 2007.
Bush made the remarks following a report in Thursday's editions
of The New York Times disclosed that shortly after former
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales took over the Justice Department
in 2005,two memos were issued to authorize the use of extreme
interrogation tactics on terror suspects, which has been denied by
the White House and the Justice Department.
"The American people expect us to find out information, this
actionable intelligence, so we can help protect them. That's our
job," he said. "This government does not torture ... we stick to US
law and our international obligations."
Highly trained professionals were assigned to question the
"extremists and terrorists," and they have already obtained
information from "these high-value" detainees that help protect
Americans, Bush said.
Meanwhile, the White House "have been fully disclosed" the
interrogation techniques to Congress, he added.
After the Justice Department publicly declared torture
"abhorrent" in December 2004, the first memo was issued that
authorized the use of head slaps, freezing temperatures and
simulated drownings, known as water boarding, in interrogating
terror suspects, said The New York Times report.
The second Justice opinion was issued later in the year while
Congress was working on an anti-torture bill.
Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Tuesday in a
statement that neither of the two memos violated the December
2004legal opinion that still remains in effect. "Neither (former)
Attorney General Gonzales nor anyone else within the department
modified or withdrew that opinion."
However, Senate and House Democrats Thursday demanded to see the
reported secret memos that authorized painful interrogation tactics
against terror suspects.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller sent a
letter to the Justice Department saying the government would risk
its credibility if not turning over the documents to Congress. "Why
should the public have confidence that the program is either legal
or in the best interests of the United States?" he questioned in
the letter.
The American Civil Liberties Union also called for an
independent investigation on the Justice Department's torture
opinions, calling the memos "a cynical attempt to shield
interrogators from criminal liability and to perpetuate the
administration's unlawful interrogation practices."
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(Xinhua News Agency October 6, 2007)
