Bush defends US interrogation methods

US President George Bush has defended his administration's methods of detaining and questioning terrorism suspects, saying both are successful and lawful.

"When we find somebody who may have information regarding a potential attack on America , you bet we're going to detain them, and you bet we're going to question them," he said during a hastily called Oval Office appearance. "The American people expect us to find out information, actionable intelligence so we can help protect them. That's our job."

Mr Bush volunteered his thoughts on a report on two secret 2005 memos that authorized extreme interrogation tactics against terror suspects. "This government does not torture people," the president said.

Meanwhile, Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin demanded a copy of a third Justice Department memo justifying military interrogations of terror suspects held outside the United States .

In a letter to Attorney General-nominee Michael Mukasey , Mr Levin wrote that two years ago he requested — and was denied — the March 14th, 2003 , legal opinion. Mr Levin asked if Mr Mukasey would agree to release the opinion if the Senate confirms him as attorney general, and cited what he described as a history of the Justice Department stonewalling Congress.

"Such failures and the repeated refusal of DoJ to provide Congress with such documents has prevented the Congress from fulfilling its constitutional responsibilities to conduct oversight," Mr Levin wrote.

The White House said Mr Mukasey has not been cleared to read the classified documents Mr Levin requested.