Bush admits secret CIA Prisons
ledvedderman
Posts: 7,761
From cnn.com
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Wednesday for the first time acknowledged the use of secret CIA prisons outside U.S. borders to hold top suspects captured in the war on terrorism.
In a speech at the White House, Bush said captured terror suspects have been the best intelligence source in efforts to stop new attacks and listed attacks blocked because of this intelligence.
The CIA program has "saved innocent lives," the president said.
Bush said torture was not part of the program and he had not authorized any form of torture, saying American law forbids it.
Bush said locations of the prisons will remain secret.
"They are in our custody so they cannot murder our people," Bush said of the detainees.
The program "helped take potential mass murderers off the streets," Bush said.
Bush said that alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is among 14 high-level detainees to be transferred from CIA to Pentagon custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where, with congressional approval of new military tribunals, they would face trial.
Besides Mohammed, those who would face tribunals include Ramzi Binalshibh and Abu Zubaydah and other suspects held in connection with the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen and the bombing attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Bush announced that the transferred detainees will get rights under the Geneva Convention once transferred to Pentagon custody.
Bush said Wednesday he would ask Congress for explicit rules so U.S. personnel are protected from abuse charges as they fight the war on terror.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Virginia, began circulating draft legislation on the tribunals two weeks ago. Key players met with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, on Tuesday night to discuss the matter.
While specifics are sketchy on what form the bill will take, a Warner spokesman said lawmakers have been working "cooperatively" with the administration on the version, "even though they have somewhat different views."
New Pentagon rules
The president's proposal comes on the same day the Pentagon issued a new directive on detainee treatment. (Full story)
"All detainees shall be treated humanely and in accordance with U.S. law, the law of war, and applicable U.S. policy," the directive says.
"All persons subject to his directive shall observe ... at a minimum the standards articulated in Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949," it says.
In a 5-3 decision in June, the Supreme Court ruled that existing law barred military commissions. The decision effectively means officials will have to come up with new procedures to prosecute at least 10 "enemy combatants" awaiting trial or release them from military custody.
In the concurring opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer said, "Congress has not issued the executive a blank check."
"Indeed, Congress has denied the president the legislative authority to create military commissions of the kind at issue here," he wrote. However, he noted, "Nothing prevents the president from returning to Congress to seek the authority he believes necessary."
The case was brought on behalf of Yemeni suspect Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and who officials say has admitted being Osama bin Laden's bodyguard and driver.
The United States has claimed that the Guantanamo detainees are not on U.S. soil and therefore are not covered by the U.S. Constitution.
The government has argued that enemy combatant or "unlawful combatant" status means detainees can be denied legal protections usually afforded prisoners of war, as outlined in the Geneva Conventions.
On Tuesday, Bush once again defended the war in Iraq as central to the war on terrorism, saying that a U.S. withdrawal would only propel bin Laden and other terrorists into more powerful positions. (Watch Bush argue why Iraq is central to the war on terror -- 1:51)
Bush has aggressively asserted the power of the government to capture, detain and prosecute suspected terrorists in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Bush on Wednesday for the first time acknowledged the use of secret CIA prisons outside U.S. borders to hold top suspects captured in the war on terrorism.
In a speech at the White House, Bush said captured terror suspects have been the best intelligence source in efforts to stop new attacks and listed attacks blocked because of this intelligence.
The CIA program has "saved innocent lives," the president said.
Bush said torture was not part of the program and he had not authorized any form of torture, saying American law forbids it.
Bush said locations of the prisons will remain secret.
"They are in our custody so they cannot murder our people," Bush said of the detainees.
The program "helped take potential mass murderers off the streets," Bush said.
Bush said that alleged 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is among 14 high-level detainees to be transferred from CIA to Pentagon custody at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where, with congressional approval of new military tribunals, they would face trial.
Besides Mohammed, those who would face tribunals include Ramzi Binalshibh and Abu Zubaydah and other suspects held in connection with the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen and the bombing attacks on U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
Bush announced that the transferred detainees will get rights under the Geneva Convention once transferred to Pentagon custody.
Bush said Wednesday he would ask Congress for explicit rules so U.S. personnel are protected from abuse charges as they fight the war on terror.
Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John Warner, R-Virginia, began circulating draft legislation on the tribunals two weeks ago. Key players met with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tennessee, on Tuesday night to discuss the matter.
While specifics are sketchy on what form the bill will take, a Warner spokesman said lawmakers have been working "cooperatively" with the administration on the version, "even though they have somewhat different views."
New Pentagon rules
The president's proposal comes on the same day the Pentagon issued a new directive on detainee treatment. (Full story)
"All detainees shall be treated humanely and in accordance with U.S. law, the law of war, and applicable U.S. policy," the directive says.
"All persons subject to his directive shall observe ... at a minimum the standards articulated in Common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949," it says.
In a 5-3 decision in June, the Supreme Court ruled that existing law barred military commissions. The decision effectively means officials will have to come up with new procedures to prosecute at least 10 "enemy combatants" awaiting trial or release them from military custody.
In the concurring opinion, Justice Stephen Breyer said, "Congress has not issued the executive a blank check."
"Indeed, Congress has denied the president the legislative authority to create military commissions of the kind at issue here," he wrote. However, he noted, "Nothing prevents the president from returning to Congress to seek the authority he believes necessary."
The case was brought on behalf of Yemeni suspect Salim Ahmed Hamdan, who was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 and who officials say has admitted being Osama bin Laden's bodyguard and driver.
The United States has claimed that the Guantanamo detainees are not on U.S. soil and therefore are not covered by the U.S. Constitution.
The government has argued that enemy combatant or "unlawful combatant" status means detainees can be denied legal protections usually afforded prisoners of war, as outlined in the Geneva Conventions.
On Tuesday, Bush once again defended the war in Iraq as central to the war on terrorism, saying that a U.S. withdrawal would only propel bin Laden and other terrorists into more powerful positions. (Watch Bush argue why Iraq is central to the war on terror -- 1:51)
Bush has aggressively asserted the power of the government to capture, detain and prosecute suspected terrorists in the wake of the September 11, 2001, attacks.
Post edited by Unknown User on
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Comments
No kidding and help me out here if you can. Bush says that information gathered from this CIA prison has been from "top" terrorist leaders. What I don't get is that these top leaders are so gung ho for attacks against the U.S. that they would give their own lives to hurt the US. They have been and are willing to die for their cause. Why on Earth would they give up information to hurt their plans of attack?
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
Maybe related to how the USA defines fair treatment of prisoners......
that is the only thing I can think of too.
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
torture
that's what I was getting at...I should have put a (sarcastic) behind it...
http://www.reverbnation.com/brianzilm
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
do you even understand what this is about?
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
O no we are keeping one of the masterminds behind 9/11 in "terrible" conditions....not going to protest that one.
I'm curious, why did you edit your post?
This kinda returns to the topic of how to handle terrorists -- is it a law enforcement op or a military one? Well, both! So we had "jails" but then we kept them secret.
I dunno, I can't get too worked about this one way or another. Yes, I'm opposed to US personnel using torture on prisoners, but I can't make the jump that "secret prison" automatically means we're torturing them. But then, why the big secret?
Perhaps they were too big-ticket to mix with the Guantanamo folks? I think the whole "secret prison" thing is part of the psychological stress applied -- NOBODY knows where you are so don't even think about escape....
And uh, ya basic interrogation san torture can actually get people talking about the craziest things. I can't make the reach that because we got valuable information from them, we must have tortured them (or had them tortured by a 3rd party).
That good cop/bad cop routine, that's some intense stuff!
i tend to agree but we're supposed to be for human rights and all that shit. we took Saddam out because of "crimes against humanity". we can't torture people and still be an advocate for human rights.
I'm so torn on how to fight this "war on terror". I just don't think we can kill them all quick enough... more pop up too fast. There has to be another way.
http://inthepresenttense.blogspot.com/
was for you take it easy.....
that is all......
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
Violence will never end violence...all it does it create a cycle of revenge which spills over onto future generations.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
Have you ever asked yourself why? I would never feel good about mirroring the things I detest.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
http://www.cnn.com/2006/POLITICS/09/06/terrorr.detainees/index.html
oh oh....i better watch what i say here....people here give their beliefs and opinions and tend to dissapear........
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
I fully agree with a really good point scifi author Dan Simmons made:
http://www.dansimmons.com/news/message/2006_04.htm
After Pearl Harbor, we did not declare "War on Aviation."
Terror is just the means, just as the Japanese used planes to bomb us, someone else is now using terrorist actions on us and I have no problem labelling them ... Islamic Fascists.
But that just riles up too many people (on both sides) so instead we're all dancing around this whole "war on terror" framing.
I don't want to know what you think should happen to these guys. It is apparent you support torture. I simply would like to know why. Why do you hate terrorists? If you hate them for the senseless killing and violence they produce then I would have to wonder why you, yourself, are so quick to become one of them.
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
You realize it's people like you on the otherside who have nothing left to lose that are saying the same about us? Think about that.
people like me on the otherside????
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha..........
another jaw dropping comment.....hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
you are a riot..............
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....
People who wish death and harm upon other human beings....
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
Oh, so you do not support torture as a method of fighting terrorism?
Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask, and he will tell you the truth.
-Oscar Wilde
That's the only way you can explain yourself? That is why people get banned, not for discussing the topic, but rather for spewing bs out there to start shit.
Till there aint nothing left worth taking away from me.....