My position is that the minute you start playing with human rights, with conventions, and with civil liberties in order to say you're doing it to protect yourself--and you are going against the fundamentals of those rights and conventions--you are no better than the guy who doesn't believe in them at all. We are slipping down the slope of going down that same route and using the argument that these conventions and these methods are in fact preventing us from protecting ourselves. I would argue that, on the contrary, they are in fact a guarantee that we can protect ourselves. It's a matter of us knowing how to use them and to be innovative in trying to provide our protection in this complex era.
On May 13th, 2008. See this statement in context.