George Bush stared down a revolt by Senate Republicans on Friday, saying their resistance to tough terror laws sought by the White House would expose the US to another al-Qaeda attack.
Bush showed no sign of compromise after four prominent Republican senators voted for a bill which the White House opposes on the treatment and trial of detainees.
"Time is running out," President Bush told a press conference at the White House on Friday. "Congress needs to act wisely and promptly."
Bush went on to warn that the refusal of the senators to endorse White House proposals to redefine compliance with sections of the Geneva Convention prohibiting torture would weaken the US in its "war on terror."
"I believe that it is vital that our folks on the frontline have the tools that are necessary to protect the American people," Bush said.
"The reason they need those tools is because the enemy wants to attack us again."
Senator John McCain and the other Republican rebels argue that loosening the standard on the Geneva Convention would put US soldiers at greater risk of mistreatment if captured.
Colin Powell, the former secretary of state, added his prestige to their cause.
In a letter to McCain, Powell said the White House proposals would create doubts about the "moral basis" of the war on terror.
But Bush showed little patience for that argument.
"It is unacceptable to think that any kind of comparison [exists] between the behavior of the [US] and the Islamic extremists who kill innocent women and children to achieve their objective."
He warned that the Senate draft would force the CIA to stop interrogating terror suspects at its secret prison network, the existence of which he acknowledged for the first time last week.
Bush also said that the CIA had used "alternative interrogation procedures" against high-value al-Qaeda suspects to gather intelligence that had thwarted attacks.
Bush argues that the Geneva Convention is vague and that the CIA and other agencies need greater clarity to ensure they will not face future prosecution for war crimes.
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
‘HARD-HEADED’: Some people did not evacuate to protect their property or because they were skeptical of the warnings, a disaster agency official said Typhoon Man-yi yesterday slammed into the Philippines’ most populous island, with the national weather service warning of flooding, landslides and huge waves as the storm sweeps across the archipelago nation. Man-yi was still packing maximum sustained winds of 185kph after making its first landfall late on Saturday on lightly populated Catanduanes island. More than 1.2 million people fled their homes ahead of Man-yi as the weather forecaster warned of a “life-threatening” effect from the powerful storm, which follows an unusual streak of violent weather. Man-yi uprooted trees, brought down power lines and smashed flimsy houses to pieces after hitting Catanduanes in the typhoon-prone
HOPEFUL FOR PEACE: Zelenskiy said that the war would ‘end sooner’ with Trump and that Ukraine must do all it can to ensure the fighting ends next year Russia’s state-owned gas company Gazprom early yesterday suspended gas deliveries via Ukraine, Vienna-based utility OMV said, in a development that signals a fast-approaching end of Moscow’s last gas flows to Europe. Russia’s oldest gas-export route to Europe, a pipeline dating back to Soviet days via Ukraine, is set to shut at the end of this year. Ukraine has said it would not extend the transit agreement with Russian state-owned Gazprom to deprive Russia of profits that Kyiv says help to finance the war against it. Moscow’s suspension of gas for Austria, the main receiver of gas via Ukraine, means Russia now only
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
RSS