Bush: Without my plan, detainee questioning won't continue

Story Highlights

• NEW: Sen. John McCain says Bush proposal could put U.S. troops at risk
• Bush: Detainee interrogations won't go forward unless tribunal plan approved
• Said U.S. implementing border security to prevent illegal immigration
• Expressed frustration with U.N. peacekeeping efforts in Sudan's Darfur region

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WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Questioning of suspected terrorists "won't go forward" unless Congress clarifies a U.S. standard for the treatment and interrogation of detainees, President Bush warned Friday.

The remarks appeared to be an attempt to put Congress on the spot about the future of a program that Bush says has helped thwart terrorism.

"Were it not for this program, our intelligence community believes that al Qaeda and its allies would have succeeded in launching another attack against the American homeland," Bush said in defense of his plan for military tribunals for terror suspects. (Watch Bush stand firm on his detainee standards -- 3:44)

His Rose Garden news conference was the latest salvo in White House efforts to write new rules that Bush said would clarify how Geneva Conventions provisions apply to detainee interrogations.

Critics, including three high-profile Republican senators and former Secretary of State Colin Powell, say it's an interpretation that could threaten the safety of U.S. forces overseas.

"You cannot ask a young intelligence officer to violate the law," Bush said. "If Congress passes a law that does not clarify the rules ... the program is not going forward."

Sen. John McCain of Arizona, a former Vietnam prisoner of war, is among several powerful Republicans who have denounced Bush's proposal, which the president said is vital to winning the war on terrorism. (Watch as Bush urges clarity on Conventions -- 3:05)

McCain said after Bush's speech that he respected the president's position. But, he said, "The protection our personnel require is not limited to freedom from lawsuits and unjust criminal prosecutions. They also need -- and deserve -- the undiluted protections offered since 1949 by the Geneva Conventions.

"For this reason, I oppose unilaterally reinterpreting in law Geneva Common Article 3," McCain said.

Article 3 prohibits nations engaged in combat from "violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture" and "outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment." (Read the full text of Article 3)

Powell, a retired four-star Army general, wrote a letter to McCain that was released Wednesday in which he stated, "The world is beginning to doubt the moral basis of our fight against terrorism."

"To redefine Common Article 3 would add to those doubts," Powell wrote. "Furthermore, it would put our own troops at risk."

GOP split

McCain echoed Powell's sentiment after Bush's speech, saying that weakening the Geneva protections would set a poor example for "other countries with less respect for basic human rights."

The intraparty squabble comes as many GOP incumbents use the war on terrorism as a campaign issue in hopes of keeping control of Congress after midterm elections, which are weeks away.

"My job and the job of the people here in Washington, D.C., is to protect this country," Bush said. "This enemy has struck us and they want to strike us again, and we'll give our folks the tools to protect this country. That's our job."

Bush said time is running out for Congress to act, as legislators are set to adjourn in two weeks. "Congress needs to act wisely and promptly, so I can sign good legislation," he said.

The Senate Armed Services Committee, which controls the legislation, defied Bush this week despite a rare visit to the Capitol by the president Thursday to lobby lawmakers.

A bill ignoring Bush's proposals passed the GOP-run committee, and it moves next to the Senate floor for debate. It's still possible that a bill that includes Bush's proposal also could come up for Senate debate.

McCain and Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia, the panel's chairman, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and Susan Collins of Maine joined committee Democrats in voting for the bill.

The bill outlines nine activities that would constitute criminal conduct by the CIA, and it protects CIA personnel from lawsuits, McCain said. It also sets up military courts to prosecute suspected terrorists without changing the U.S. interpretation of Article 3, he said.

The committee proposal also would permit terror suspects to view classified evidence against them.

"We can debate this issue all we want," Bush said, but "the bottom line is ... this program won't go forward if there's vague standards applied" to the law, Bush said.

"We make it stronger, we make it clearer, we make it definite."

Bush said, "What I'm concerned about is if we don't do that, that it's very conceivable our professionals could be held to account based upon court decisions in other countries.

Senate leaders will call for a vote on the issue as early as next week, The Associated Press reported, though Senate Majority Whip Mitch McConnell said no decision had been made.

In a June decision, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the administration must meet the Geneva Convention's Common Article 3 standards in its treatment of detainees.

"Unfortunately, the recent Supreme Court decision put the future of this program in question," Bush said Friday. "It's another reason I went to Congress. We need this legislation to save it."

Other highlights

On Iran: Bush said, "There's common consensus that we need to work together to prevent the Iranian regime from developing that nuclear weapons program. ... And now the objective is to continue reminding the Iranian regime that there is unanimity in the world and that we will move forward together."

On immigration and border security: Bush said legislators "wanted to know whether or not we were implementing border security measures that they had funded last January. And the answer is: 'We are.' "

On Iraq: "It's no question it's tough. What I look for is whether or not the unity government is moving forward, whether or not they have a political plan to resolve issues such as oil and federalism, whether or not they're willing to reconcile and whether or not Iraqi troops and Iraqi police are doing their jobs."

On Sudan's Darfur crisis: Bush said, "I'm frustrated with the United Nations in regards to Darfur. I have said, and this government has said, there's genocide taking place in Sudan. ... I'm troubled by reports I hear about escalating violence. I can understand the desperation people feel for women being pulled out of these refugees centers and raped. And now is the time for the U.N. to act."

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