'It Is Not an Easy Question'
Whether waterboarding constitutes torture has been a topic of sworn testimony and a presidential declaration, and the technique has been a major issue in congressional debate over the confirmation of Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey. Here is a look at some in the Bush administration have said:
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
"The question is, is waterboarding a legal technique? And everything I know, based on the appropriate authority to make that judgment, it is a legal technique used in a specific set of circumstances. You have to know the circumstances to be able to make the judgment."
-- Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell , in testimony before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Feb. 5, 2008
"If this were an easy question, I would not be reluctant to offer my views on this subject, but with respect, I believe it is not an easy question. There are some circumstances where current law would appear clearly to prohibit waterboarding's use, but other circumstances would present a closer question."
-- Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey , during his confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Jan. 30, 2008
"Well, it's a no-brainer for me. But for a while there, I was criticized as being the vice president of torture. We don't torture. That's not what we're involved in."
-- Vice President Cheney , responding a radio interviewer who asked: "Would you agree a dunk in the water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?," Oct. 24, 2006
"I don't know. . . . Let me put it this way, I'm not going to comment on any individual techniques that anybody has brought forward as an allegation or have dreamed up or anything like that. What we do, as I've said many times, is professional, is lawful, it yields good results and it is not torture."
-- Then-CIA Director Porter J. Goss , on "Good Morning America," responding to Charlie Gibson's question on whether waterboarding would come under "the heading of torture," Nov. 29, 2005
"We do not condone torture. I have never ordered torture. I will never order torture. The values of this country are such that torture is not a part of our soul and our being."
-- President Bush , June 22, 2004
