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Bush backs policy on terror
suspects
The Boston Globe
Reuters
March 7, 2005
NEW YORK -- The Bush administration is defending its decision
to give the CIA extensive authority to send terrorism suspects to
foreign countries for interrogation.
The New York Times reported yesterday that President Bush
signed a still-classified directive just days after the Sept. 11,
2001, attacks that gave the CIA broad power to operate without
case-by-case approval from the White House in the transfer of
suspects -- a process known as rendition.
The CIA declined to comment on the report, and the White House
would not confirm the directive.
But White House counselor Dan Bartlett defended the
administration's policies, saying it was important after the
Sept. 11 attacks to take a ''hard look at our entire apparatus --
militarily, intelligence, diplomatic -- to see how we were going
to fight and win the war on terror."
The rendition program has been under scrutiny in recent weeks
after several former detainees complained of inhumane treatment
and human rights groups have complained that the operations
violated American standards condemning torture.
Representative Edward Markey filed legislation last month to
eliminate what he called ''outsourcing torture."
''The president needs to rescind his extraordinary rendition
'outsourcing torture' directives so that Americans can know that
we are neither engaging in torture ourselves, nor outsourcing
torture to other nations," the Massachusetts Democrat said
yesterday.
Markey also called on the president to declassify the secret
order.
The Bush administration has publicly said the United States
did not hand over people to be tortured. ''At every step of the
way, President Bush and his administration has made very clear
that we abide by the laws of our land and the treaty obligations
we have," Bartlett told CNN.
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