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Clinton Endorses Anti-Torture Pledge

October 04, 2007 3:19 PM

ABC News' Rick Klein Reports [UPDATED 4:15 pm ET]: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton has endorsed the principles of an anti-torture pledge circulated by a liberal organization, after facing criticism as the only Democratic candidate for president to withhold her support for a blanket statement condemning torture.

ABC reported earlier Thursday that Clinton had not yet responded the group's request to sign the pledge. However, the Clinton campaign said its response to the group was being drafted prior to receiving media inquiries.

The anti-torture pledge, initiated by the American Freedom Campaign -- a group founded by a coalition of civil-liberties groups and liberal activists -- commits the candidates to disavowing some of the controversial tactics employed by the Bush administration.

"We are Americans, and in our America we do not torture, we do not imprison people without charge or legal remedy, we do not tap people's phones and emails without a court order, and above all we do not give any President unchecked power," the statement reads. "I pledge to fight to protect and defend the Constitution from assault by any President."

In a letter to the group sent Thursday afternoon, Clinton writes that she agrees with the statement.

"To lead, our country must uphold its most fundamental rules and standards," she writes. "The next president must not only possess a clear-eyed assessment of the terrorist threat, but must demonstrate the moral courage to face that threat without forsaking the values which set our Nation apart."

Technically, Clinton did not sign the pledge. Instead, she sent a letter outlining her principles and broad agreement with the group's stance, in a manner similar to responses sent by Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., and former senator John Edwards, D-N.C.

The freedom campaign first sent letters to the presidential candidates in August, asking for their pledges. With Sen. Barack Obama's commitment on Tuesday, all of the Democratic candidates except Clinton had signed off on the commitment, a situation that left leaders of the group frustrated.

"We're waiting for it, that she'll be willing to stand up for the Constitution," Steve Fox, a spokesman for the American Freedom Campaign, told ABC News Thursday afternoon, a few hours before Clinton sent the letter. "Her campaign is well aware of what we’re doing, and that all of the other candidates have signed on."

"We're willing to give the benefit of the doubt for a little while -- not much longer," Fox added. "We're not ready to say Hillary Clinton is against the Constitution, but we’re looking for her to take a strong stand."

Clinton's position on torture has received particular scrutiny in recent days. Last week, at a Democratic debate in New Hampshire, she disavowed the use of torture as an interrogation tactic -- contradicting statements that had been made by her husband.

"It cannot be American policy, period," Sen. Clinton said at the debate.

But last fall, Clinton told the New York Daily News that she would favor a narrow exception to a torture ban, in a "ticking time bomb" scenario.

"In the event we were ever confronted with having to interrogate a detainee with knowledge of an imminent threat to millions of Americans, then the decision to depart from standard international practices must be made by the President, and the President must be held accountable," she told the Daily News.

The apparent contradiction prompted the Clinton campaign to issue a clarification late last week: "Upon reflection and after meeting with former generals and others, Sen. Clinton does not believe that we should be making narrow exceptions to this policy based on hypothetical scenarios," Clinton campaign spokesman Phil Singer said.

On Thursday, The New York Times published a story detailing a secret Justice Department memo from February 2005 that "provided explicit authorization to barrage terror suspects with a combination of painful physical and psychological tactics, including head-slapping, simulated drowning and frigid temperatures."

The policies outlined in the memo are still in effect, according to the Times. White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said there were inaccuracies in the Times report, though she declined to describe them in detail.

"The policy of the United States is not to torture. We have and are not torturing anyone," Perino said. "The American people have every right to be very proud of what we've done, and we have not had another terrorist attack in this country. And they should be glad of that as well."

October 4, 2007 in Tancredo, Tom | Permalink | User Comments (5)

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Posted by: carl | Oct 4, 2007 4:08:31 PM

Posted by: D.K.C. | Oct 4, 2007 4:16:10 PM

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