Powell Opposes Bush Interrogation Legislation
Powell Opposes Bush Interrogation Legislation
By William Branigin
Copyright by The Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; 1:46 PM
Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell came out in opposition today to White House-sponsored legislation to create special military commissions that would try terrorist suspects, saying he rejects efforts to "redefine" a key provision of the Geneva Conventions.
Powell, a retired Army general who formerly headed the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated his position in a letter to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of three Republican senators who are blocking President Bush's plan for military tribunals. The three -- who also include Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the committee -- are advancing an alternative tribunal bill that contains more protections for defendants.
The letter, dated Sept. 13, was released by McCain's office today as Bush was paying a rare visit to Capitol Hill to lobby Republican lawmakers for support on his military commission bill and on separate legislation that would essentially endorse a controversial warrantless eavesdropping program. (See the actual letter at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/09/14/GR2006091400728.html.
Bush told reporters at the Capitol after a meeting with House Republicans that he had thanked the House Armed Services Committee for approving the White House's version of the tribunal legislation. The committee voted 52 to 8 yesterday in favor of the bill, which would allow prosecutors to withhold classified evidence from defendants, submit testimony obtained through coercion and protect U.S. intelligence agents from legal action over their interrogation methods.
The bill would also effectively reinterpret U.S. treaty obligations under Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, allowing the CIA to conduct tougher interrogations of suspected terrorists than the treaty permits.
House Republican leaders plan to bring the bill to the floor for a vote next week.
Bush expressed appreciation to the House committee for "passing a very important piece of legislation in a bipartisan fashion that will give us the tools and wherewithal to protect this country." He said, "I reminded them [lawmakers] that the most important job of government is to protect the homeland, and yesterday they advanced an important piece of legislation to do just that. I'll continue to work with members of the Congress to get good legislation so we can do our duty."
Speaking in the Oval Office later after a White House meeting with the visiting president of South Korea, Bush forcefully defended his proposed legislation, which he said would enable the CIA "to conduct a program to get information from high-value detainees in a lawful way."
Americans need to understand "that in order to protect this country we must be able to interrogate people who have information about future attacks," Bush said. "So the question I ask about any piece of legislation is, Will the program provide legal clarity so that our professionals will feel comfortable about going forward with the program?" He vowed to "resist any bill that does not enable this program to go forward with legal clarity."
Bush appeared to dismiss the Powell letter, saying, "There's all kinds of letters coming out. And today, by the way, active duty personnel in the Pentagon, the JAG, supported the concept that I have just outlined to you." He referred to the Judge Advocate General's Corps, the units that defend and prosecute service members accused of violating military law and advise commanders on the laws of war.
"And we want to work with Congress to make sure that the [CIA] program can go forward," Bush said. "If there's not clarity, if there's ambiguity, if there's any doubt in our professionals' mind that they can conduct their operations in a legal way with support of the Congress, the program won't go forward, and the American people will be endangered."
At the White House, presidential spokesman Tony Snow said the alternative bill put forward by McCain, Warner and Graham was unacceptable because it would force the CIA to shut down the formerly secret program, which has been used to hold terrorist suspects in clandestine prisons abroad and subject them to harsh interrogations. Bush spoke publicly about the program for the first time last week, saying it was a vital part of the U.S. war on terrorism and had produced information that averted terrorist attacks and saved many lives.
The president will not accept something that shuts the program down," Snow told reporters today.
Powell, who served as secretary of state during Bush's first term, objected strongly to changing U.S. compliance with the Geneva Conventions, which include international standards for the treatment of prisoners of war.
"I just returned to town and learned about the debate taking place in Congress to redefine Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention," Powell wrote to McCain. "I do not support such a step and believe it would be inconsistent with the McCain amendment on torture which I supported last year." He referred to a provision, added to the 2006 Defense Appropriations Bill, that prohibits "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons under custody or control of the United States government."
Powell also expressed support for the views of another former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Gen. John W. Vessey. He wrote McCain Sept. 12 to warn that the Bush proposal for military tribunals "may weaken America" by undermining "the moral basis" that traditionally has guided U.S. war-fighting and by giving enemies "a legal argument for the mistreatment of Americans" held prisoner in wartime.
Powell wrote, "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk."
In the Senate, Warner, the Armed Services Committee chairman, told reporters that Powell's letter was put into the record during a closed markup of military tribunal legislation this morning. He said an open session of the committee scheduled for this afternoon was thrown into doubt after an unidentified senator submitted an objection under Senate rules.
The alternative tribunal bill that Warner supports would limit the use of classified evidence and coerced testimony in terrorism prosecutions and maintain broader protections for detainees against cruel and inhumane treatment.
Staff writer Jonathan Weisman contributed to this report.
By William Branigin
Copyright by The Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 14, 2006; 1:46 PM
Former Secretary of State Colin L. Powell came out in opposition today to White House-sponsored legislation to create special military commissions that would try terrorist suspects, saying he rejects efforts to "redefine" a key provision of the Geneva Conventions.
Powell, a retired Army general who formerly headed the Joint Chiefs of Staff, stated his position in a letter to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), one of three Republican senators who are blocking President Bush's plan for military tribunals. The three -- who also include Sen. John W. Warner (R-Va.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.), a member of the committee -- are advancing an alternative tribunal bill that contains more protections for defendants.
The letter, dated Sept. 13, was released by McCain's office today as Bush was paying a rare visit to Capitol Hill to lobby Republican lawmakers for support on his military commission bill and on separate legislation that would essentially endorse a controversial warrantless eavesdropping program. (See the actual letter at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/graphic/2006/09/14/GR2006091400728.html.
Bush told reporters at the Capitol after a meeting with House Republicans that he had thanked the House Armed Services Committee for approving the White House's version of the tribunal legislation. The committee voted 52 to 8 yesterday in favor of the bill, which would allow prosecutors to withhold classified evidence from defendants, submit testimony obtained through coercion and protect U.S. intelligence agents from legal action over their interrogation methods.
The bill would also effectively reinterpret U.S. treaty obligations under Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, allowing the CIA to conduct tougher interrogations of suspected terrorists than the treaty permits.
House Republican leaders plan to bring the bill to the floor for a vote next week.
Bush expressed appreciation to the House committee for "passing a very important piece of legislation in a bipartisan fashion that will give us the tools and wherewithal to protect this country." He said, "I reminded them [lawmakers] that the most important job of government is to protect the homeland, and yesterday they advanced an important piece of legislation to do just that. I'll continue to work with members of the Congress to get good legislation so we can do our duty."
Speaking in the Oval Office later after a White House meeting with the visiting president of South Korea, Bush forcefully defended his proposed legislation, which he said would enable the CIA "to conduct a program to get information from high-value detainees in a lawful way."
Americans need to understand "that in order to protect this country we must be able to interrogate people who have information about future attacks," Bush said. "So the question I ask about any piece of legislation is, Will the program provide legal clarity so that our professionals will feel comfortable about going forward with the program?" He vowed to "resist any bill that does not enable this program to go forward with legal clarity."
Bush appeared to dismiss the Powell letter, saying, "There's all kinds of letters coming out. And today, by the way, active duty personnel in the Pentagon, the JAG, supported the concept that I have just outlined to you." He referred to the Judge Advocate General's Corps, the units that defend and prosecute service members accused of violating military law and advise commanders on the laws of war.
"And we want to work with Congress to make sure that the [CIA] program can go forward," Bush said. "If there's not clarity, if there's ambiguity, if there's any doubt in our professionals' mind that they can conduct their operations in a legal way with support of the Congress, the program won't go forward, and the American people will be endangered."
At the White House, presidential spokesman Tony Snow said the alternative bill put forward by McCain, Warner and Graham was unacceptable because it would force the CIA to shut down the formerly secret program, which has been used to hold terrorist suspects in clandestine prisons abroad and subject them to harsh interrogations. Bush spoke publicly about the program for the first time last week, saying it was a vital part of the U.S. war on terrorism and had produced information that averted terrorist attacks and saved many lives.
The president will not accept something that shuts the program down," Snow told reporters today.
Powell, who served as secretary of state during Bush's first term, objected strongly to changing U.S. compliance with the Geneva Conventions, which include international standards for the treatment of prisoners of war.
"I just returned to town and learned about the debate taking place in Congress to redefine Common Article 3 of the Geneva Convention," Powell wrote to McCain. "I do not support such a step and believe it would be inconsistent with the McCain amendment on torture which I supported last year." He referred to a provision, added to the 2006 Defense Appropriations Bill, that prohibits "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment of persons under custody or control of the United States government."
Powell also expressed support for the views of another former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, retired Gen. John W. Vessey. He wrote McCain Sept. 12 to warn that the Bush proposal for military tribunals "may weaken America" by undermining "the moral basis" that traditionally has guided U.S. war-fighting and by giving enemies "a legal argument for the mistreatment of Americans" held prisoner in wartime.
Powell wrote, "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism. To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts. Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk."
In the Senate, Warner, the Armed Services Committee chairman, told reporters that Powell's letter was put into the record during a closed markup of military tribunal legislation this morning. He said an open session of the committee scheduled for this afternoon was thrown into doubt after an unidentified senator submitted an objection under Senate rules.
The alternative tribunal bill that Warner supports would limit the use of classified evidence and coerced testimony in terrorism prosecutions and maintain broader protections for detainees against cruel and inhumane treatment.
Staff writer Jonathan Weisman contributed to this report.
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