Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Rice Questioned About Torture...by a 4th Grader

Condoleeza Rice visited an elementary school Washington DC last week, where she was asked a tough question about torture by a 4th grade student.

Then Misha Lerner, a student from Bethesda, asked: What did Rice think about the things President Obama's administration was saying about the methods the Bush administration had used to get information from detainees?

Rice took the question in stride. saying that she was reluctant to criticize Obama, then getting to the heart of the matter.

"Let me just say that President Bush was very clear that he wanted to do everything he could to protect the country. After September 11, we wanted to protect the country," she said. "But he was also very clear that we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally. So the president was only willing to authorize policies that were legal in order to protect the country."

She added: "I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country. September 11 was the worst day of my life in government, watching 3,000 Americans die. . . . Even under those most difficult circumstances, the president was not prepared to do something illegal, and I hope people understand that we were trying to protect the country."
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2 comments:

Ben said...

No post about Pres. Obama fighting the release of prisoner abuse photos? Would you have given Pres. Bush a two day pass without comment?

noneed4thneed said...

I would consider that be breaking national news. I am too busy right now to write about breaking national news. I usually write a couple of posts each night or in the morning and have them post throughout the day and have been focusing on Iowa news or national news that hasn't been covered much.