Guardian.uk – Will Condoleezza rice be dogged for the rest of her life by questions about her role in the Bush administration’s harsh interrogation policies?
Last week, Rice was confronted by a student at Stanford University student who asked her if the near-drowning technique known as waterboarding is torture.
Yesterday, Rice was forced on the defensive by a Bethesda, Maryland, grade-schooler.
According to the Washington Post, Misha Lerner, a fourth grader at the Jewish Primary Day School of the Nation’s Capital asked Rice to comment on President Obama’s rejection of Bush-era interrogation methods.
On her first public appearance in Washington since Obama’s inauguration, Rice was giving a talk for about dozen school children.
She replied:
Let me just say that President Bush was very clear that he wanted to do everything he could to protect the country. After September 11, we wanted to protect the country. But he was also very clear that we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally. So the president was only willing to authorize policies that were legal in order to protect the country.
Last week, she told the Stanford student, in an exchange caught on video and widely viewed on youtube, that none of the “enhanced interrogation techniques” used under the Bush administration were illegal, because Bush had approved them. “By definition, if it was authorised by the president, it did not violate our obligations under the Convention Against Torture,” she said.Source
In doing research for briefs to the US SUpreme Court (08-6585,
08-8712, re immigration and family issues)I combed through the Statutes at Large and could not find the Convention Against Torture, the 1951 Refugee Convention or the 1967 Protocol to that Convention. How important is that fact in holding not only executive individuals but also the People (i.e Congress and others) responsible?
Mary
I was not aware the president had the power to change international definition of torture.It was torture,and illegal up to the 9/11 attack.What gave him the power of such a move?HE was our president.He was NOT our commander in chief of the civilian population.He was commander in chief of the military only.For him to think other wise made him delusional,and his cabinet LIARS,and WAR CRIMINALS!Colin Powell was the only person associated with his administration that had any MORAL fiber.He resigned.
Condi Rice is such a lier!!!
A fourth grader? That’s beautiful.