Bush tells Congress: Fight terror on my terms

WASHINGTON — President Bush acknowledged Wednesday he had authorized a secret CIA detention program and announced plans to bring to trial 14 top terrorism suspects, including some of the alleged architects of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Bush used the announcement, delivered five days before the fifth anniversary of the attacks on the United States, to challenge Congress to authorize him to wage the war on terrorism on his terms. At stake is defining how the rule of law governs the executive branch as it deals with captives it suspects are terrorists.

Speaking to a White House audience that included relatives of Sept. 11 victims, Bush demanded that lawmakers revive his plan for military tribunals without key legal safeguards for those on trial, legalize the CIA's detention program and shield U.S. officials from prosecution for possible war crimes.

Leading lawmakers in both parties said they would insist the detainee trials offer legal rights that Bush opposes, but the president's announcement appeared to be intended to give him more leverage in his negotiations with Congress over how to try suspected terrorists.

After refusing for months to confirm media reports of secret CIA prisons, Bush pulled the lid off a CIA program intended to extract information from "high-value" terrorism suspects.

The CIA's captives included Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks, and Ramzi Binalshibh, another suspected Sept. 11 plotter, and others linked to the attack on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000 and bombings at the U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.

Bush said the 14 men had committed "terrible crimes against the American people."

The top 14 terrorism suspects


Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Abu Zubaydah, believed to be a link between Osama bin Laden and many al-Qaida cells.

Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, accused of delivering funds to the Sept. 11 hijackers.

Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, allegedly helped coordinate the 1998 bombings of the U.S. Embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

Ramzi Binalshibh, believed to have helped plan the Sept. 11 attacks.

Mustafa Ahmad al-Hawsawi, reportedly arranged financing and travel for the Sept. 11 plot participants.

Mohammed Nazir Bin Lep, allegedly helped transfer al-Qaida funds for a 2003 car bombing at a hotel in Jakarta.

Riduan Isamuddin, also known as Hambali, believed to be the main link between al-Qaida and Jemaah Islamiyah, the regional terror group blamed for the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people.

Majid Khan, allegedly being groomed for an attack inside the United States.

Waleed bin Attash, accused of serving bin Laden as a bodyguard.

Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, suspected mastermind of the October 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

Abu Faraj al-Libi, suspected of masterminding two bombings 11 days apart in December 2003 that targeted President Pervez Musharraf.

Mohd Farik Bin Amin, believed to have been tapped for an al-Qaida attack on Los Angeles.

Gouled Hassan Dourad, allegedly headed a Somalia-based network that supported al-Qaida.

The Associated Press

"And we have a duty to bring those responsible for these crimes to justice," he said.

Bush said Mohammed and some of the other CIA detainees have provided valuable information, at times helping the United States and its allies catch other terrorist leaders and disrupt al-Qaida plots, including some he said would have been launched on U.S. soil.

The detainees usually gave up such information unwillingly, often after the CIA used "an alternative set of procedures" that, while tough, did not amount to torture, Bush said.

Mohammed and the others will be given defense lawyers, allowed visits by inspectors from the Red Cross and treated the same as the hundreds of other detainees at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, albeit in even more secure surroundings, Bush said.

The Defense Department took custody of the 14 CIA prisoners Monday at Guantánamo Bay, increasing the prison's detainee population to 455, said Bryan Whitman, a Pentagon spokesman.

Two U.S. intelligence officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said the CIA's program of interrogating some prisoners and sending others to third countries for questioning produced a mixture of some good information and some false information from prisoners eager to end harsh treatment.

The men are not likely to face military justice soon. The Supreme Court in June struck down the Guantánamo military tribunals as unconstitutional because the administration did not first gain the approval of Congress.

Trials could begin as soon as Congress passes a bill authorizing the military commissions, and the 14 detainees could face the death penalty. If the legislation does not pass, they could not be tried as war criminals, but they could be held indefinitely.

Lawyers for detainees in Guantánamo Bay and civil-liberties groups called Bush's announcement an effort to stiff-arm Congress and score political points. "The president's acknowledgements today do not gloss over the gross illegalities at Guantánamo or in secret CIA prisons," said the Center for Constitutional Rights, a group that works with detainees.

In a related development, the Pentagon issued a new manual on the treatment of prisoners that explicitly prohibits water-boarding, sexual humiliation, electric shocks, the threatening use of dogs and other degrading or painful tactics.

Two senior administration officials who briefed reporters on the secret CIA program on condition of anonymity, said the program was put on hold within the past few weeks.

The officials said "fewer than 100" suspects had ever been in CIA custody. They declined to provide a detailed accounting of the detainees' fates but said many had been returned to their home countries for prosecution.

Some lawmakers chafed at what they viewed as an effort to force them into line behind Bush's approach.

"Congress is being told, either take this program or you're coddling terrorists," Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif., told CNN. Harman is the ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee.

Three leading Republicans on the Senate Armed Services Committee who have offered an alternative to Bush's military tribunal plan said they are willing to seek a compromise but don't plan to fold. They are Sens. John McCain of Arizona, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina and John Warner of Virginia, the chairman of the committee.

Their alternative would prohibit the use of testimony obtained through coercive interrogation, restrict the use of hearsay evidence and give judges the right to decide whether defendants should be allowed to see classified information that could be used against them.