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.
With much pomp and circumstance, Cairo is today to inaugurate the long-awaited Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM), widely presented as the crowning jewel on authorities’ efforts to overhaul the country’s vital tourism industry. With a panoramic view of the Giza pyramids plateau, the museum houses thousands of artifacts spanning more than 5,000 years of Egyptian antiquity at a whopping cost of more than US$1 billion. More than two decades in the making, the ultra-modern museum anticipates 5 million visitors annually, with never-before-seen relics on display. In the run-up to the grand opening, Egyptian media and official statements have hailed the “historic moment,” describing the
‘CHILD PORNOGRAPHY’: The doll on Shein’s Web site measure about 80cm in height, and it was holding a teddy bear in a photo published by a daily newspaper France’s anti-fraud unit on Saturday said it had reported Asian e-commerce giant Shein (希音) for selling what it described as “sex dolls with a childlike appearance.” The French Directorate General for Competition, Consumer Affairs and Fraud Control (DGCCRF) said in a statement that the “description and categorization” of the items on Shein’s Web site “make it difficult to doubt the child pornography nature of the content.” Shortly after the statement, Shein announced that the dolls in question had been withdrawn from its platform and that it had launched an internal inquiry. On its Web site, Le Parisien daily published a
‘NO WORKABLE SOLUTION’: An official said Pakistan engaged in the spirit of peace, but Kabul continued its ‘unabated support to terrorists opposed to Pakistan’ Pakistan yesterday said that negotiations for a lasting truce with Afghanistan had “failed to bring about a workable solution,” warning that it would take steps to protect its people. Pakistan and Afghanistan have been holding negotiations in Istanbul, Turkey, aimed at securing peace after the South Asian neighbors’ deadliest border clashes in years. The violence, which killed more than 70 people and wounded hundreds, erupted following explosions in Kabul on Oct. 9 that the Taliban authorities blamed on Pakistan. “Regrettably, the Afghan side gave no assurances, kept deviating from the core issue and resorted to blame game, deflection and ruses,” Pakistani Minister of
UNCERTAIN TOLLS: Images on social media showed small protests that escalated, with reports of police shooting live rounds as polling stations were targeted Tanzania yesterday was on lockdown with a communications blackout, a day after elections turned into violent chaos with unconfirmed reports of many dead. Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan had sought to solidify her position and silence criticism within her party in the virtually uncontested polls, with the main challengers either jailed or disqualified. In the run-up, rights groups condemned a “wave of terror” in the east African nation, which has seen a string of high-profile abductions that ramped up in the final days. A heavy security presence on Wednesday failed to deter hundreds protesting in economic hub Dar es Salaam and elsewhere, some
RSS