US PRESIDENT George Bush has vetoed legislation that would have banned the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods to break suspected terrorists.
"The bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror," Bush said in his weekly radio address yesterday. "So today I vetoed it."
The bill cleared the House of Representatives in December and the Senate la
st month.
"This is no time for Congress to abandon practices that have a proven track record of keeping America safe," the President said.
Supporters of the legislation say it would preserve the US's ability to collect critical intelligence while providing a much-needed boost to the country's moral standing abroad.
"Torture is a black mark against the US," said California Senator Dianne Feinstein, a Democrat. "We will not stop until (the ban] becomes law."
The bill would have limited the CIA to the 19 techniques allowed for use by military interrogators. The Army Field Manual in 2006 banned using methods such as waterboarding – forced suffocation and inhalation of water – or sensory deprivation on uncooperative prisoners.
But Bush said the CIA must retain use of these "specialised interrogation procedures".
"If we were to shut down this programme and restrict the CIA to methods in the field manual, we could lose vital information from senior al-Qaeda terrorists, and that could cost American lives," Bush said.
The bill's supporters say the military's approved methods are sufficient. Senator Edward Kennedy said: "Unless Congress overrides the veto, it will go down in history as a flagrant insult to the rule of law and a stain on the good name of America in the world's eyes."
