Furor Over Senator's Gitmo Remarks

White House Slams Sen. Durbin For Comparing Guantanamo To Nazis

(AP)  The White House and Senate Republicans on Thursday assailed a Democrat for comparing American interrogators at Guantanamo Bay to Nazis, Soviet gulags and Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot.

It is "beyond belief" that Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin would compare the treatment of dangerous enemy combatants at Guantanamo Bay to the death of millions of innocent people by oppressive governments, White House spokesman Scott McClellan said.

"I think the senator's remarks are reprehensible. It's a real disservice to our men and women in uniform who adhere to high standards and uphold our values and our laws," he said.

Sen. John Warner, R-Va., criticized Durbin for spouting "loose comments" and comparisons that "have no basis of fact or history." Durbin's remarks in a speech Tuesday in the Senate were "a most egregious misjudgment," Warner said.

Defending himself, the Senate's No. 2 Democrat said Thursday it was "just plain wrong" to say he was diminishing past horrors.

He said he was comparing interrogation techniques that the FBI report said were used at Guantanamo with those in foreign detainee camps.

"This is the type of thing you would expect from a repressive regime. This is not the type of thing you would expect from the United States," Durbin said.