Depends on your definition of the word "law"

President Bush said Thursday he ordered U.S. officials to follow the law while interrogating suspected terrorists, but he sidestepped an opportunity to denounce the use of torture.

Bush's comments came as a 2-year-old State Department document surfaced warning the White House that failing to apply international standards against torture could put U.S. troops at risk.

"What I've authorized is that we stay within U.S. law," Bush told reporters at the close of the G-8 summit in Savannah, Ga.

Asked if torture is ever justified, Bush replied, "Look, I'm going to say it one more time. ... The instructions went out to our people to adhere to law. That ought to comfort you [emphasis added."

Weird, but it was a weird press conference...as we've come to expect from the Great Communicationist. Another high point was Bush's insistence that security forces in Iraq after June 30th will have "an Iraqi face;" the world (and Iraqis themselves) should simply ignore the 140,000 American troops wearing (finally) armor.

But Bush's insistence on the words "within U.S. law" do not, in fact, provide much "comfort" given the March 30 memo (the contents of which Ashcroft won't release) insisting that "the law" does afford the right of U.S. troops to torture prisoners if under the authority of the Commander-in-Chief.

And it won't provide much comfort to the detainees who were the subject of a contest to see which army dog handler's animal could make more of them urinate on themselves.