Friday, June 11, 2004
Prove it
Mr. Bush, sounding a mite testy, says he gave instructions to follow the law
As noted below, and as others have pointedly noted, this doesn't quite answer the question, because the memos that have recently become public opine that several laws prohibiting torture do not apply to the president. But I wonder, since Mr. Bush says he gave instructions to "conform to U.S. law," is there any written record of Bush having issued that authorization, given those instructions? A memo, maybe? A written directive?
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Mr. Bush, sounding a mite testy, says he gave instructions to follow the law
Q: Mr. President, the Justice Department issued and advisory opinion last year declaring that, as commander in chief, you have the authority to order any kind of interrogation techniques that are necessary to pursue the war on terror. Were you aware of this advisory opinion? Do you agree with it? And did you issue any such authorization at any time?
BUSH: The authorization I issued was that anything we did would conform to U.S. law and would be consistent with international treaty obligations. That's the message I gave our people.
Q: Have you seen the memos?
BUSH: I can't remember if I've seen the memo or not, but I gave those instructions.
[later]
Q Mr. President, I wanted to return to the question of torture. What we've learned from these memos this week is that the Department of Justice lawyers and the Pentagon lawyers have essentially worked out a way that U.S. officials can torture detainees without running afoul of the law. So when you say that you want the U.S. to adhere to international and U.S. laws, that's not very comforting. This is a moral question: Is torture ever justified?
THE PRESIDENT: Look, I'm going to say it one more time. If I -- maybe -- maybe I can be more clear. The instructions went out to our people to adhere to law. That ought to comfort you. We're a nation of law. We adhere to laws. We have laws on the books. You might look at those laws, and that might provide comfort for you. And those were the instructions out of -- from me to the government.
As noted below, and as others have pointedly noted, this doesn't quite answer the question, because the memos that have recently become public opine that several laws prohibiting torture do not apply to the president. But I wonder, since Mr. Bush says he gave instructions to "conform to U.S. law," is there any written record of Bush having issued that authorization, given those instructions? A memo, maybe? A written directive?
