Some prone to castigating the Bush administration for the use of water-boarding knew of the policy in 2002 and raised no objections, according to the Washington Post. Among those was current House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Individual lawmakers' recollections of the early briefings varied dramatically, but officials present during the meetings described the reaction as mostly quiet acquiescence, if not outright support. "Among those being briefed, there was a pretty full understanding of what the CIA was doing," said Goss, who chaired the House intelligence committee from 1997 to 2004 and then served as CIA director from 2004 to 2006. "And the reaction in the room was not just approval, but encouragement." (snip)
"In fairness, the environment was different then because we were closer to Sept. 11 and people were still in a panic," said one U.S. official present during the early briefings. "But there was no objecting, no hand-wringing. The attitude was, 'We don't care what you do to those guys as long as you get the information you need to protect the American people.' "
The use of this technique has since spawned much agitation on the part of some (including my preferred
presidential candidate, John McCain), who accuse the Bush administration of advocating torture. Of course this is classic question begging (oh no, more logical fallacies!). Many who call water-boarding torture do so without defining torture and explaining why water-boarding should be included. This is question begging as it takes something as a given that actually needs to be proven by argument.
Water-boarding clearly puts the interrogated under severe psychological stress, yet it does not cause any actual physical injury. So is it torture? According the United Nations Convention Against Torture, torture is, "Any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, , is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession...." This being the case, water-boarding seems to fit the definition and should not be used by civilized peoples.
But one must be clear. According to ABC, the US only used this technique three times, and it has been banned by both the military and the CIA.
For all the debate over waterboarding, it has been used on only three al Qaeda figures, according to current and former U.S. intelligence officials.
As ABC News first reported in September, waterboarding has not been used since 2003 and has been specifically prohibited since Gen. Michael Hayden took over as CIA director.
Officials told ABC News on Sept. 14 that the controversial interrogation technique, in which a suspect has water poured over his mouth and nose to stimulate a drowning reflex as shown in the above demonstration, had been banned by the CIA director at the recommendation of his deputy, Steve Kappes.
While the United States has used to practice only three times, it should not use it at all.
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