Bush strongly defends CIA interrogation of terror suspects

WASHINGTON - Trying to stare down a revolt from fellow Republicans, President George W. Bush has warned that a CIA interrogation program for suspected terrorists is doomed unless the US Congress saves it and time is running out to act.

"Congress has got a decision to make. You want the program to go forward or not? I strongly recommend that this program go forward in order for us to be able to protect America," Bush said.

A day after a Senate committee rejected his pleas and endorsed legislation that would protect the rights of terrorism suspects, Bush argued strongly at a Rose Garden news conference for his proposals to allow tough questioning of the suspects.

The alternative legislation is backed by a powerful coalition of Republican senators with military backgrounds - John McCain of Arizona, John Warner of Virginia and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, plus a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Colin Powell, who was secretary of state for Bush.

New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer said that with those four standing up to the president, "It shows how wrong and isolated the White House is."

"These military men are telling the president that in the war on terror you need to be both strong and smart, and it is about time he heeded their admonitions," Schumer said.

The vote in the Senate Armed Services Committee set up a legislative showdown during an election year in which Republicans hope to protect control of both houses of the US Congress by appearing strong on fighting terrorism.

The dust-up between Bush and his Republican allies came at a time when the president is arguing for strong protections against the threat of terrorism, with the fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks fresh in Americans' minds before November congressional elections.

'Flawed logic'

Bush rejected as "flawed logic" an argument put forth on Thursday by Powell that Bush's proposals would encourage the world to "doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism."

"It's unacceptable to think that 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," Bush said.

But Graham said in response that Bush's proposals would weaken Geneva Convention protections for war prisoners and ultimately put US troops at risk.

"What is being billed as 'clarifying' our treaty obligations will be seen as 'withdrawing' from the treaty obligations. It will set precedent which could come back to haunt us," Graham said.

With Congress soon to recess to allow members to campaign for re-election, Bush said he wanted to get an agreement soon. "Time's running out," he said.

Congress is seeking to create military commissions to try terrorism suspects held at Guantanamo Bay in line with a Supreme Court ruling in June that ruled Bush's plan for such tribunals was illegal.

Bush wants to include protections for a CIA interrogation program that was officially revealed only 10 days ago, and which he credits for preventing another attack on US soil.

But critics call the interrogation methods tantamount to torture and McCain, a former POW in Vietnam, has provided a powerful counterbalance to Bush, arguing US troops would be put at risk if captured in countries that applied the same methods.

Bush said he wants the legislation to clarify what methods may or may not be used in order to define the Geneva Conventions' Common Article 3, which bans inhumane treatment of prisoners.

He said intelligence professionals have told him that unless interrogators have protections against lawsuits or legal action in foreign countries, they will not participate in the program.

"We need this legislation to save it," he said.

- REUTERS