Washington - President Bush, reacting to a Congressional uproar over the disclosure of secret Justice Department legal opinions permitting the harsh interrogation of terrorism suspects, defended the methods on Friday, declaring, "This government does not torture people."
The remarks, Mr. Bush's first public comments on the memorandums, came at a hastily arranged Oval Office appearance before reporters. It was billed as a talk on the economy, but after heralding new job statistics, Mr. Bush shifted course to a subject he does not often publicly discuss: a once-secret Central Intelligence Agency program to detain and interrogate high-profile terror suspects.
"I have put this program in place for a reason, and that is to better protect the American people," the president said, without mentioning the CIA by name. "And when we find somebody who may have information regarding a potential attack on America, you bet we're going to detain them, and you bet we're going to question them, because the American people expect us to find out information - actionable intelligence so we can help protect them. That's our job."
Without confirming the existence of the memorandums or discussing the explicit techniques they authorized, Mr. Bush said the interrogation methods had been "fully disclosed to appropriate members of Congress."
But his comments only provoked another round of recriminations on Capitol Hill, as Democrats ratcheted up their demands to see the classified memorandums, first reported Thursday by The New York Times.
"The administration can't have it both ways," Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement after the president's remarks. "I'm tired of these games. They can't say that Congress has been fully briefed while refusing to turn over key documents used to justify the legality of the program."
In two separate legal opinions written in 2005, the Justice Department authorized the CIA to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.
The memorandums were written just months after a Justice Department opinion in December 2004 declared torture "abhorrent." More from the story.
The remarks, Mr. Bush's first public comments on the memorandums, came at a hastily arranged Oval Office appearance before reporters. It was billed as a talk on the economy, but after heralding new job statistics, Mr. Bush shifted course to a subject he does not often publicly discuss: a once-secret Central Intelligence Agency program to detain and interrogate high-profile terror suspects.
"I have put this program in place for a reason, and that is to better protect the American people," the president said, without mentioning the CIA by name. "And when we find somebody who may have information regarding a potential attack on America, you bet we're going to detain them, and you bet we're going to question them, because the American people expect us to find out information - actionable intelligence so we can help protect them. That's our job."
Without confirming the existence of the memorandums or discussing the explicit techniques they authorized, Mr. Bush said the interrogation methods had been "fully disclosed to appropriate members of Congress."
But his comments only provoked another round of recriminations on Capitol Hill, as Democrats ratcheted up their demands to see the classified memorandums, first reported Thursday by The New York Times.
"The administration can't have it both ways," Senator John D. Rockefeller IV, the West Virginia Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said in a statement after the president's remarks. "I'm tired of these games. They can't say that Congress has been fully briefed while refusing to turn over key documents used to justify the legality of the program."
In two separate legal opinions written in 2005, the Justice Department authorized the CIA to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures.
The memorandums were written just months after a Justice Department opinion in December 2004 declared torture "abhorrent." More from the story.
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