Bush defends harsh interrogation tactics

BENTON HARBOR, Mich., May 29 (UPI) -- Former U.S. President George W. Bush has defended using harsh interrogation tactics saying information received prevented another assalt on the United States.

In what appeared to be reference to the waterboarding of Al-Qaeda leader Khalid Sheik Mohammed, Bush said, "I made a decision within the law to get information so I can say, I've done what it takes to do my duty to protect the American people," the Detroit Free Press reported.

In his first major address since leaving the White House, Bush told the Economic Club of Southwestern Michigan in Benton Harbor, "I can tell you, the information gained saved lives."

But he also said, "We should care about poverty overseas, for our own self-interest. ... Ideologues can only recruit when they find hopeless people. If you're hungry, diseased, impoverished, you're more easy to recruit."

In wide-ranging remarks, Bush often joked about his retirement, recalled being commander in chief, discussed the warlike aftermath of the Sept. 11 attacks and his belief in free markets and free trade, the Detroit Free Press said. He said he set aside some of those beliefs when the nation began sliding toward financial disaster.