During a discussion with members of women's nongovernmental organizations in Turkey's capital, Ankara, Mrs. Hughes was challenged with accusations that the U.S.-led war that ousted Saddam Hussein has erased women's rights and made their lives miserable.

"In every photograph I see from Iraq, there is fear and concern in the eyes of women and children," said Hidayet Sefkatli Tuksal of the Capital City Women's Platform.

Visibly upset, Mrs. Hughes, a close friend and former adviser of President Bush's, fired back.

"I have to respectfully disagree," she said. "It is impossible to say that the plight of women was better under Saddam Hussein. Women were tortured; they had their children tortured in front of them."
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"Because we acted, torture rooms are closed, rape rooms no longer exist, mass graves are no longer a possibility in Iraq."—Bush, remarks at "Ask President Bush" event, Michigan, May 3, 2004
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