From PRI, Public Radio International and KCRW Santa Monica, this is To the Point.

Interrogations in the War on Terror. What are the limits?

Hello again, I'm Orman Alney, and this is To the Point from Public Radio International.

A daily look at the issues. Americans care about most.

The U.S. Supreme Court says the Geneva Conventions prohibit humiliating and degrading treatment

of terrorist suspects. But President Bush says alternative interrogation techniques have been

vital in providing information, he says, we couldn't get anywhere else. Republican senators

have refused, though, the president's request to clarify the

treaty, and negotiations continue. On to the point, what does the president mean by alternative

interrogation techniques? How are they different from torture? Is the U.S. being tough enough

to protect American safety? On reporter's notebook later on, has democracy taken a fall in Thailand? First up,

here's the news. Support for To the Point comes from subscribers of KCRW Santa Monica and from the

Public Radio International Program Fund, whose contributors include the Ford Foundation and the John

D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

Hello again, Mormon-Aulay, back with To the Point. Republican senators are still meeting President

Bush's demand, still resisting President Bush's demand, to clarify the Geneva Convention,

so the CIA can be tough on prisoners in the war on terror. On To the Point, what does he mean by

alternative interrogation techniques? How are they different from torture? Is there excessive concern for prisoners' health and safety? Under Porter's notebook, after yesterday's coup in Thailand, what's the future of democracy for an important U.S. ally? First, this news update. Yesterday, President Bush told the U.N. that peace between Israel and the Palestinians was one of the great objectives of his presidency. Today, he held a private meeting with Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas. Beni is New York correspondent for Israeli radio. He also covers the United Nations for the New York Sun. Beni Obni, good to have you with us.

Good to see. The president and Mr. Abbas said very little after their meeting. They took no questions at all.

How important is the fact that they met?

Well, I think the most important part of that of what they, of what happened afterwards, was

what they didn't say. They didn't say anything about the unity government,

...