The students are getting younger, but the questions remain the same. After being "interrogated" in a Stanford University dorm last week, Condoleeza Rice faced similar questioning in a Q&A session at the Jewish Primary Day School in Washington, DC, on Sunday.
Misha Lerner, a student from Bethesda, asked: What did Rice think about the things President Obama's administration was saying about the methods the Bush administration had used to get information from detainees? Her response?
"Let me just say that President Bush was very clear that he wanted to do everything he could to protect the country. After September 11, we wanted to protect the country," she said. "But he was also very clear that we would do nothing, nothing, that was against the law or against our obligations internationally. So the president was only willing to authorize policies that were legal in order to protect the country.
"I hope you understand that it was a very difficult time. We were all so terrified of another attack on the country. September 11 was the worst day of my life in government, watching 3,000 Americans die. 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."
Misha's mother, Inna Lerner, said the question her son had initially come up with was more pointed:
"If you would work for Obama's administration, would you push for torture? They wanted him to soften it and take out the word 'torture.' But the essence of it was the same."
Condoleeza Rice has previously used the argument that something is legal "by definition if it was authorized by the president." Critics have noted the similarity to a statement of former president Richard M. Nixon: "When the president does it, that means it is not illegal."
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