[JURIST] US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice [official profile; JURIST news archive] Thursday defended the Bush administration's authorization of the use of harsh interrogation tactics, including waterboarding [JURIST news archive], on suspected terrorist detainees. In her comments at the headquarters of the technology company Google, Rice stated that a special legal atmosphere existed in the US after the Sept. 11 attacks [JURIST news archive], but that "President Bush made it clear that we were going to live up to our obligations at home and to our treaty obligations abroad." AP has more.

The Washington Post reported Thursday on tension [WP report] within the US Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) [official websites] over the harsh tactics used on detainees. The report indicates that a group of senior DOJ and FBI officials objected to the interrogation methods on the grounds they would taint any later prosecution of the suspects in court. The objections were effectively overruled by the authorization and continued utilization of the interrogation methods by military and intelligence officials, based on their perceived necessity for preventing another terrorist attack.