President Bush, in a press conference at the White House on September 15th, seemed intent on defending his administration’s illegal use of wiretapping by the NSA, the torture of prisoners of war, and the use of secret overseas CIA prisons in violation of Geneva Convention laws. That the media and the public would be concerned over these affairs is not surprising. What is surprising is the way the President chose to answer his critics and to deal with the reporters covering the press conference.
President Bush not only admitted to the charges; he went as far as to defend vehemently the use of these illegal tactics. According to President Bush, secret CIA prisons, torture and illegal wiretapping are not only perfectly acceptable, but in fact, are directly responsible for preventing attacks within our borders. He makes these bold statements without a shred of evidence to support his claims. When asked what he planned to do about the NSA wiretapping program the Supreme Court recently ruled was unconstitutional, he merely shrugged off their ruling as a difference of opinion. He didn’t agree with what they said, and that was that, next question please.
His handling of the media was no better. NBC Reporter David Gregory asked President Bush what he would do if countries such as North Korea or Iran arrested U.S. soldiers, interrogated them with techniques they interpreted as lawful, tried them in military tribunals with secret evidence not provided to the defense and convicted them. Bush responded by saying he would be glad to see other countries follow America’s lead, with the unspoken assumption that America can do no wrong, and that his administration was striving to define a clear law with which to interrogate prisoners. Apparently, the Geneva Convention wording “outrages to human dignity” is too vague for President Bush to understand. He continued to repeat this message, practically shouting down Mr. Gregory’s repeated attempts to reiterate his question.
With elections less than two months away and two years left in the President’s term of office, it is important now more than ever to be aware of how these events could erode the principles on which our country was founded.