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Presidential pardon me?

BY GLENN THRUSH | Newsday Washington Bureau

October 19, 2006

WASHINGTON - George W. Bush doesn't think much of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's criticism of his new military commissions law.

In late September, Clinton voted against the Bush-backed bill, which passed both houses, citing objections to a provision that would deny legal immigrants the right to appeal their detentions.

"This law would give license to this administration to pick people up off the streets of the United States and hold them indefinitely without charges and without legal recourse," Clinton said at the time.

When Fox commentator Bill O'Reilly read those comments to Bush yesterday, the president replied: "You mean pick the enemy up off the streets? ... I don't know who she's talking about. But this law will enable us to find people that would like to kill Americans ... I have no idea who she's talking about."

When O'Reilly asked if Clinton was soft on terror, Bush replied, "I believe there's a group of people here in Washington, however, who have a different view of this war. They view it as a law enforcement matter. I view it as war."

A Clinton spokesman had no comment.