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Rice Refuses to Describe Detainee Abuse at Abu Ghraib As
Torture
Sen. Boxer to Rice on Iraq Invasion: "Your Loyalty to
the Mission...Overwhelmed Your Respect for the Truth"
GOP Sen. Chafee to Rice: Bush Administration "Disrespectful
to the Venezuelan People"
Sen. Nelson on Haiti Coup: "Hard to Say We Support Democracy
and Elections and then We Go and Push [Aristide] Out"
Rice Refuses to Describe Detainee Abuse at Abu Ghraib
As Torture
Condoleezza Rice refused to describe what occurred at the
Abu Ghraib prison as torture at her confirmation hearing for
Secretary of State. She also claimed the Geneva Conventions
does not apply to individuals associated with Al Qaeda. We
hear excerpts of the hearing and speak with constitutional
lawyer David Cole. [includes rush
transcript]
President Bush's nominee to replace General Colin Powell
as Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice, faced more than 9
1/2 hours of questioning from the members of the Senate Foreign
Relations Committee. The opening day of her confirmation hearing
went well into the night. When it was over, it was just the
committee's chair, Indiana Republican Richard Lugar, Condi
Rice and Senator John Kerry who was making his first major
foray back into his role as a Senator since the November election.
It was also Illinois Senator Barack Obama's first major Senate
appearance.
Most of the exchanges between Rice and Senators from both
political parties were cordial and without many fireworks.
There were some moments where Rice faced tough questions on
her views on torture and international law, on the administration's
claims about alleged weapons of mass destruction in pre-invasion
Iraq and on statements she made about Venezuela and its president
Hugo Chavez. The main attack dog for the Democrats was California
Senator Barbara Boxer. This was interesting given that California's
other Senator Dianne Feinstein introduced Rice before the
questioning began. Boxer also was the Democratic Senator who
signed onto the challenge of the electoral college's certification
of President Bush's victory in the election. In a moment,
we are going to hear the first exchange between Boxer and
Rice talking about the administration's justification for
the invasion of Iraq, but first this is Boxer questioning
Rice about torture.
- Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) questioning Secretary of State
nominee Condoleezza Rice about torture, January 18, 2005.
- David Cole, professor at Georgetown Law School and author
of the book "Enemy Aliens: Double Standards and Constitutional
Freedom in the War on Terrorism."
Sen. Boxer to Rice on Iraq Invasion: "Your Loyalty
to the Mission...Overwhelmed Your Respect for the Truth"
The most heated exchange in the first day of Condoleezza
Rice's confirmation hearing for Secretary of State came with
Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA). Boxer chastised Rice for stating
Saddam Hussein was close to developing nuclear weapons in
the lead-up to the Iraq war. In their first exchange, Sen.
Barbara Boxer (D-CA) went on the offensive with Condoleezza
Rice about the administration's justification for the invasion
of Iraq.
- Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-CA) questioning Secretary of State
nominee Condoleezza Rice about the administration's justification
for the invasion of Iraq, January 18, 2005.
GOP Sen. Chafee to Rice: Bush Administration "Disrespectful
to the Venezuelan People"
Condoleezza Rice singled out Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
at her confirmation hearing for Secretary of State calling
his rule "very deeply troubling." The most interesting
exchange came from Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode
Island. We play an excerpt of the hearing and speak with Larry
Birns of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.
While the abuse of detainees and the war in Iraq formed a
major part of yesterday's hearings, Rice also singled out
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez calling him a "democratically
elected leader who governs in an illiberal way."
Chavez was elected president in 1998. He has condemned the
U.S. invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan and threatened to cut
off oil sales to the United States. Since then, more than
$1 million in U.S. government money has been given to Venezuelan
opposition groups for democracy-training programs under the
auspices of the National Endowment for Democracy - a private
agency funded entirely by the U.S. government.
Last August, Chavez survived a referendum to recall him.
The vote marked the eighth time Chavez's mandate as leader
has been approved since 1998, after two presidential elections
and six referendums. Chavez supporters criticize the U.S.
for supporting a failed coup attempt against the president
in April 2002. Chavez was removed from power by a coalition
of military officials and business leaders but returned to
office two days later.
At her confirmation hearing yesterday, Condoleezza Rice reserved
some of her harshest language for Chavez, calling his rule
"very deeply troubling." While a number of Senate
Democrats questioned Rice about Venezuela, the most interesting
exchange came from Republican Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode
Island.
- Sen. Lincoln Chafee (R-RI) questioning Secretary of State
nominee Condoleezza Rice about her comments on Venezuela,
January 18, 2005.
Sen. Nelson on Haiti Coup: "Hard to Say We Support
Democracy and Elections and then We Go and Push [Aristide]
Out"
At her confirmation hearing for Secretary of State, Condoleezza
Rice was questioned about the situation in Haiti and the 2004
coup d'etat that ousted the democratically-elected President
Jean Bertrand-Aristide. We play an excerpt of the hearing
and speak with Larry Birns of the Council on Hemispheric Affairs.
At the hearing, Rice was also questioned about another country
in the Western hemisphere: Haiti. Last year the democratically-elected
president of Haiti, Jean Bertrand Aristide, was overthrown
in what he calls a modern-day kidnapping in the service of
a coup d'etat backed by the United States.
Since then, the situation in the country has deteriorated
rapidly under the new, unelected government, which the Caribbean
Community bloc CARICOM refuses to recognize.
A new report released by the Center for the Study of Human
Rights at the University of Miami School of Law describes
the situation like this "Haiti's people churn inside
a hurricane of violence. Gunfire crackles, once bustling streets
are abandoned to cadavers, and whole neighborhoods are cut
off from the outside world. Nightmarish fear now accompanies
Haiti's poorest in their struggle to survive in destitution.
Gangs, police, irregular soldiers, and even UN peacekeepers
bring fear."
At Rice's Senate confirmation hearing yesterday, Democratic
Senator Bill Nelson of Florida was one of those who questioned
her about Haiti.
- Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL) questioning Secretary of State
nominee Condoleezza Rice about the situation in Haiti, January
18, 2005.
For a copy of today’s program, call 1 (800) 881 2359.
Our website is www.democracynow.org.
Our email address is mail@democracynow.org.
Democracy Now! is produced by Mike Burke, Sharif Abdel Kouddous,
Ana Nogueira, Elizabeth Press, Jeremy Scahill and Parvez Sharma.
Mike Di Filippo is our engineer.
Thanks also to Uri Galed, Angela Alston, Orlando Richards,
Simba Russeau, Johnny Sender, Rich Kim, Joe Murgio, John Randolph,
Chris Zucker, Karen Ranucci, Denis Moynihan, Eric Rweyemamu,
Jenny Filipazzo and Isis Phillips.
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