10-year-old's question on Gitmo torture sends Rice scurrying for cover

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A question from a ten-year-old school student forced former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to defend the Bush administration's interrogation methods on Gitmo detainees.

Rice told primary school pupils in Washington that the Bush administration did not use illegal interrogation tactics.

She was responding to a question from Misha Lerner, a fourth-grader at the Jewish Primary Day School in Washington.

Misha asked Rice what she thought about the Obama administration's remarks on interrogation methods authorized by its predecessors for use against al-Qaeda suspects.

"Even under those most difficult circumstances, the president was not prepared to do something illegal, and I hope people understand that we were trying to protect the country," she said.

Rice also said that President George W Bush had assured his administration that "we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally"."I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country," she said.

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