Ruling means new law may be needed, Bush says

ROME (AP) — President Bush on Thursday strongly disagreed with a Supreme Court ruling that clears foreign terrorism suspects at Guantanamo Bay to challenge their detention in U.S. civilian courts. Bush suggested new legislation may now be needed to keep the American people safe.

“We’ll abide by the court’s decision,” Bush said during a news conference in Rome. “That doesn’t mean I have to agree with it.” The court’s decision was sure to be popular in Europe, where many leaders have called for the closing of Guantanamo.

In its third rebuke of the Bush administration’s treatment of prisoners, the court ruled 5-4 that the government is violating the rights of prisoners being held indefinitely and without charges at the U.S. naval base in Cuba. The court’s liberal justices were in the majority.

“It was a deeply divided court, and I strongly agree with those who dissented,” Bush said. “And that dissent was based upon their serious concerns about U.S. national security.”

Bush said his administration will study the ruling. “We’ll do this with this in mind — to determine whether or not additional legislation might be appropriate so we can safely say to the American people, ‘We’re doing everything we can to protect you.”’

The president, meeting with allies in a farewell tour of Europe, was reminded again that his time in office is fleeting. Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was asked which U.S. president he would like to see next — Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona or Democratic Sen. Barack Obama.

“I suppose I could express my own personal preference for one of the candidates, the Republican candidate,” Berlusconi said. “And this is for a very selfish reason, and that is that I would no longer be the oldest person at the upcoming G-8 [meeting] because McCain is a month older than me.” McCain is 71.

On soaring oil prices, the president made clear that the United States would send a high-level official to a summit recently announced by Saudi Arabia. The upcoming meeting is designed to gather oil producing countries and consumer nations.