19 September 2006
State's Hughes Says U.S. Security Requires Questioning Detainees
Under secretary discusses detainees, Middle East during television interview
Washington – Faced with unprecedented threats against the United States by terrorists, the Bush administration has had to make difficult decisions regarding the treatment of detainees, said Karen Hughes, under secretary of state for public diplomacy and public affairs.
While working to protect itself from the threat from terrorists who attack around the world, the United States is trying to “apply international standards, to a group of people who don't wear the uniform of a state and don't respect the law of war and aren't signatories to any international treaties,” Hughes told MSNBC September 17.
Hughes was responding to questions about U.S. obligations under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions as it applies to detained terrorist suspects. (See related article.)
President Bush believes that the CIA should have the authority to question senior-level al-Qaida detainees who might have information that could prevent a future terrorist attack, Hughes said. It is also important to have clear rules for interrogators. (See related article.)
“What the president is trying to do is define what that means using the standards that Senator [John] McCain championed last year, which was a prohibition on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment,” said Hughes.
In October 2005, the U.S. Senate voted to define and limit techniques used by U.S. troops to interrogate suspects detained in connection with terrorism, both in the United States and abroad. Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican, sponsored the amendment. (See related article.)
When asked about the Iraq war, Hughes said it is important to remember that al-Qaida has said that Iraq is the central front for terror. “We think defeating the terrorists there is absolutely in our security interest,” she said.
Hughes also said that Bush has a “comprehensive vision for a Middle East that's a different kind of place, a place of greater hope, a place of greater opportunity, a place where people are more free to express themselves, a place where people can participate in the political life of their country.” (See related article.)
The president is personally committed to a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, where both parties can live “side by side in peace and security,” she said.
For additional information, see Detainee Issues.
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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