Is it torture or not?
When I began my job at the RAC in September of 2007, I knew nothing about waterboarding and I think it is safe to say few others did either. However, by October everyone knew about it.
Now in 2008, the discussion is back again.
Waterboarding as I am sure many of our readers are aware is
an interrogation technique first used during the Spanish Inquisition described
most often as “simulated drowning.” In this letter, Represenatives Nadler and Delehut argure very powerfully that waterboarding
is actual drowning in that it makes the individual being interrogated experience the
physical effects.
When he was the nominee for Attorney
General Michael Mukasey was asked if he believed this technique was
torture. His response during his
testimony was "If it amounts to torture… then it is not
constitutional." Because the answer
was received unsatisfactorily, Mukasey attempted to clarify his view in a
letter to members of the Senate Judiciary committee. “I have not been briefed
on techniques used in any classified interrogation” he said, “but if confirmed
I will review any coercive interrogation techniques currently used,” and in a
moment of personal candor he added “[waterboarding] is repugnant to me.”
In other words:
Does Mukasey personally think waterboarding
is torture? Yes.
Is it illegal? Maybe.
Will you make it illegal if you
become Attorney General? I’ll tell you when I am attorney general.
Fast forward to today, January 30, 2008.
In a letter
to the Judiciary committee, Mukasey said “a limited set of [interrogation] methods
is currently authorized…waterboarding is not among these methods," however
he continued “I do no believe it is responsible for me, as attorney general, to
provide an answer [on the legality of waterboarding].” Then, when pressed at the hearing he
responded to the question “Would waterboarding be torture if it was done to
you?” by saying "I would feel that it was."
Three months into his term as Attorney General we have
learned little:
Does Mukasey personally think
waterboarding is torture? Yes.
Is it illegal? Maybe.
Will you make it illegal now that you have
become Attorney General? It is a question of legality that I simply cannot answer.
In other words, the questions are the same and essentially so are the
answers.