Dodd regrets not filibustering terrorism bill

IOWA CITY,Iowa --Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., said he regretted being talked out of filibustering tough new tribunal legislation signed by president Bush on Tuesday, and plans to seek new legislation to overturn portions of the bill.

Dodd denounced the measure, which civil liberty groups have said endangers many freedoms.

"It's a major, major retreat for us as a people," Dodd said during a visit to Iowa on Tuesday afternoon. "It's incredible what they did."

The measure signed by Bush sets up military tribunals to try terror suspects and allows the introduction of evidence obtained through tough interrogation procedures. It also suspends rights such as habeas corpus, which requires that suspects be brought to court to ensure they are being held legally and if they should be released.

Dodd said he initially intended to filibuster the bill but was talked out of it by other Democrats who said there wouldn't be enough votes to support the filibuster.

"I regret now that I didn't do it," he said. "This is a major, major blow to who we are."

Dodd was campaigning in Iowa as he considers a bid for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Dodd said he would introduce legislation in the lame duck session of Congress, seeking to overturn provisions of the measure, but he conceded his chances of success were slim. The Connecticut senator noted the irony of Bush's action coming close to the 60th anniversary of the judgments against Nazi war criminal in the Nuremberg trials.

Those trials set the standard for handling war criminals, Dodd said.

"Most people wanted to summarily execute them, but we insisted on a trial," he said. "The U.S. alone insisted we had a trial because the rule of law was important to us."

Dodd said the measure would do little to aid in the hunt for terrorists because information obtained through intimidation is rarely accurate.

"Torture gets you bad information," Dodd said.

He also worried that the measure would result in severe treatment for American soldiers who are captured by enemies of the United States.

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Editors: Mike Glover has covered politics since 1982, when he began covering the Iowa Statehouse.