WASHINGTON, Feb. 8, 2008
Cheney Defends U.S. Use Of Waterboarding
But CIA Chief Says Legality Of Controversial Interrogation Technique Is Now Doubtful
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Vice President Dick Cheney, speaking to a conference of conservative Republicans, said it was "a good thing" that President Bush authorized the use of waterboarding during the interrogation of detainees suspected of being al Qaeda members. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
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Waterboarding is illegal under U.S. and international law, but it was revealed this week that President Bush had authorized its use in 2002 and 2003 — and could do so again. (CBS)
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Vice President Dick Cheney, meanwhile, said "it's a good thing" that top al Qaeda figures underwent the harsh interrogation tactic in 2002 and 2003, claiming they were forced to give up information that helped protect the country and saved "thousands" of American lives.
"It's a good thing we had them in custody, and it's a good thing we found out what they knew," said Cheney, speaking Thursday to a meeting of conservative Republicans in Washington.
Since the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, President Bush has "made the right decisions for the right reasons," Cheney said.
"I've been proud to stand by him, the decisions he made. And would I support those same decisions today? You're damn right I would," he said to enthusiastic applause at the Conservative Political Action Conference. [See expanded remarks below.]
Waterboarding involves strapping a person down and pouring water over his or her cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning. It is condemned by nations around the world; critics, including U.S. military interrogators, call it a form of torture.
Despite U.S. and international laws which recognize waterboarding as torture - a technique which dates back at least to the Spanish Inquisition, and for which U.S. courts have obtained convictions as a war crime - CIA Director Michael Hayden said the use of waterboarding by the U.S. was legal in 2002 and 2003 because a Justice Department lawyer signed a secret legal opinion claiming terror detainees were not protected by the Geneva Convention's ban on torture.
When that opinion was rescinded after it became public in 2004, other secret opinions were written declaring extreme intrerrogation methods could be approved by the president.
Such authorizations were at odds with public statements by President Bush and then-Attorney General Alberto Gonzales who declared torture to be “abhorrent” and which indicated that the waterboarding of detainees was not allowed by the U.S.
During 2002-2003, the administration said this week, waterboarding was in fact authorized for use on three detainees - accused al Qaeda members Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri - because of widespread belief among U.S. intelligence officials that catastrophic attacks by al Qaeda were imminent.
Even after the Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that al Qaeda prisoners were subject to Geneva Convention protections, the president in July signed an executive order approving "enhanced" interrogation techniques on certain prisoners. As revealed in The New York Times, the order, approved by the White House Office of Legal Counsel (OLC), authorizes the CIA to use such techniques banned by international law.
Under the provisions of the secret order, waterboarding could only be authorized by the president.
Intelligence experts have not only denounced the use of waterboarding, saying that intelligence obtained through that method is questionable, but have allowed that its use exposes those who authorize it to indictment on charges of war crimes.
[As a side note, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid said this week that the president is demanding that Steven Bradbury, who signed off on secret legal opinions allowing the use of waterboarding, be appointed to the head of the Office of Legal Counsel, a post which requires Senate confirmation.
Reid charges the president with purposely holding up more than 84 post nominations for federal agencies and judgeships, refusing to move forward on them unless the Senate OKs Bradbury. Meanwhile, the president blamed Congress for holding up the nominations, without mentioning Bradbury, whose duties at OLC (according to a former OLC head) could include writing an "advance pardon" excusing lawbreaking by the Executive Branch.]
CIA: Waterboarding Not In The Current Program
In 2006, the Central Intelligence Agency banned waterboarding by its personnel in the wake of a Supreme Court decision and new laws on the treatment of U.S. detainees.
"It is not included in the current program, and in my own view, the view of my lawyers and the Department of Justice, it is not certain that that technique would be considered to be lawful under current statute," Hayden told the House Intelligence Committee.
But White House spokesman Tony Fratto admitted Thursday that while waterboarding is not currently used, its legal use could be approved by the president if the attorney general and intelligence heads said it would garner important intelligence.
"I'm not in a position, and no one is in a position, to rule anything in or out," Fratto said, when asked if torture might be used, despite current law.
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Amnesty International USA
On Thursday, Attorney General Michael Mukasey pushed back against Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee demanding to know whether he would prosecute U.S. interrogators who used waterboarding in the past.Everyone in the world knows that waterboarding is torture and illegal. The U.S. government admits having done it. Yet the highest law enforcement official in the land refuses to investigate this scandal.
Larry Cox, executive director,Amnesty International USA
"Are you ready to start a criminal investigation into whether this confirmed use of waterboarding by U.S. agents was illegal?" the committee's chairman, Rep. John Conyers, D-Mich., asked, calling the technique an "odious practice."
"No, I am not," Mukasey answered bluntly.
He said the Justice Department could not investigate or prosecute people for actions that it had authorized earlier.
Mukasey has refused to say publicly whether he considers waterboarding legal. On Thursday he said it "was found to be permissible under the law as it existed" in the years immediately following 9/11.
Critics say waterboarding violates the U.N. Convention Against Torture and U.S. laws outlining legal treatment of detainees. The Justice Department long has resisted exposing the Bush administration and its employees to criminal or civil charges or even international war crimes if waterboarding were declared illegal.
Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA, called Thursday's testimony an example of "the gold standard of double standards."
"Everyone in the world knows that waterboarding is torture and illegal," Cox said. "The U.S. government admits having done it. Yet the highest law enforcement official in the land refuses to investigate this scandal."
© MMVIII, CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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See all 356 CommentsWake up people.
the Country can be Glad we had him and he told everything about his behind the scene selling out of the American People,
We can debate wether its legal or not later after he has a chance to dry his face off...
andChange the batteries on his pacemaker im sure itd skip a few beats or so during the mild interrogation..
Exactly. If he thinks it is such a wonderful tool, let him try it out on himself, just like others in the government have done, and then let''s see how enthusiastic he is about using this torture technique.
Wouldn''t Cheney make just a first rate ***-tator? We could call him Saddam II.
The terrorists are right here in America, folks. Right here in America.
The Democrats won because people thought they opposed the war in 2006...now they have two war pigs running neck and neck for the presidential nomination and the House and Senate are run by corrupt figures who support the Regime.
Agree. If I had the right to, I would apologize for booobs in Congress, but I don''t. I voted for a couple of them. That the Republicans have run this country into the ground so blatantly and so manically is horrible. That the Democrats have done so ga-dang little about it is a whole other level of horrible.
Trust me, the let-down of the trust of the American people, the globe, and even future generations by the current high-dollar trash in Washington has been felt across the political board.
Posted by SgtRDS at 01:57 PM : Feb 08, 2008
May I come too? It would be my pleasrue to not only witness but to cheer you on gleefully, and to refill you with the beverage of your choice, so that the liquid impeachment may continue as long as you see fit.
It''s that daang liberal press, don''t cha know. Liberal media refuses to print anything good about Bush, so hence the media silence. Or so I tell myself, everytime a Republican cries that the media is liberal-bias.
...wouldn''t that be great! Cheney and Bush have done their best to destroy what makes America such a great country - like NOT torturing people. How is this even a debate? Cheney and the terrorists are one is the same - they preach hate, condone violence, hide behind ideology, spread fear, finance militias, and contribute to the deaths of innocent & peaceful men, women, & children. The Bush administration will be judged by history to be the worst administration in American history - they had seemingly endless opportunity & resources to contribute value to our country and global community but decided to try and build an imaginary empire instead. The next administration has its hands full fixing the mess.
Two provisions of the MCA , MISERY HILLARY GOT THIS PAST INTO LAW...WHY
First, the MCA changed the definition of war crimes for which US government defendants can be prosecuted. Under the War Crimes Act of 1996, any violation of Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions was considered a war crime and could be criminally prosecuted. Section 6 of the Military Commissions Act amended the War Crimes Act so that only actions specifically defined as "grave breaches" of Common Article 3 could be the basis for a prosecution, and it made that definition retroactive to November 26, 1997. The specific actions defined in section 6 of the Military Commissions Act include torture, cruel or inhumane treatment, murder, mutilation or maiming, intentionally causing serious bodily harm, rape, sexual assault or abuse, and the taking of hostages. According to Mariner of Human Rights Watch, the effect is "that perpetrators of several categories of what were war crimes at the time they were committed, can no longer be punished under U.S. law."[32] The Center for Constitutional Rights adds:
The MCA%u2019s restricted definitions arguably would exempt certain U.S. officials who have implemented or had command responsibility for coercive interrogation techniques from war crimes prosecutions.
. . . .
This amendment is designed to protect U.S. government perpetrators of abuses during the "war on terror" from prosecution.[33]
Posted by AaaBee at 02:06 PM : Feb 08, 2008
Arrive early. I''m sure there''s going to be a line of people waiting to pis*s on Cheney''s grave that will stretch for miles.
Will do. Every cemetary needs a water feature.
Does he get to be in-*** in Arlington, along with the real Soldiers and presidents?
Posted by AaaBee at 02:27 PM : Feb 08, 2008
Nope. They wouldn''t dare anyway since they''d have to recall a battalion of troops from Iraq to protect it from vandalism. Not that most of the soldiers guarding it wouldn''t do some pis*sing on it of their own. They''re going to have to bury this prick in a secret location.
It didn''t save the 3,000 lives Cheney and Bush had already taken when they allowed/caused the 9/11 disaster.
It didn''t save the 4,000 soldiers whose lives were taken over the Bush/Cheney war for oil!
It didn''t save the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives taken in the Bush/Cheney war for oil!
It didn''t save Benazir Bhutto''s life when Bush/Cheney had her taken out!
Mr. Cheney, you are a hypocrit, as well as a murderer!
Thou shall not lie...ya right the worst hypocrits of all time "Jesus would throw these two monsters out of the tenple"?
Posted by bobmarisol at 02:35 PM : Feb 08, 2008
Now THAT''S a stupid argument. They do it so we should to. Let''s become as bad as terrorists are. Great battle cry to give to our troops as they die for noting in Bush''s war. "We''re as bad of murderers and torturers as you are!" or "Join us! We''re slightly less of murders as they are!". The Japanese tortured our troops in WWII, but we didn''t torture theirs. We defeated them and they were an infinitely bigger threat then Islamic terrorists. Torture ALWAY''S hurts the nation that does it more then the victims of it.
www.youtube.com/Unconstitutional The real *** Cheney
Posted by SgtRDS
SgtStupid - so what is your battle cry? ''Join us! We know the terrorists tortured and mutilated your fellow soldiers, but if you capture them just be nice and give them hot meals and a bed to sleep on!'' REAL MOTIVATING.
Why is it you liberals are so weak on the war on terror? What you dont understand is that the terrorists are evil people intent on killing innocent Americans. Our soldiers should be given every tool possible to defeat the terrorists and to save American lives. If that includes pouring a little water on the face of a terrorist, that is a small price to pay to save even one innocent American.
it is just none of your business because it''s not a human unless it is born, NO BIRTH = NO BABY, ITS NOT ALIVE DUMMY-
Posted by mjlewis6 at 02:00 PM : Feb 08, 2008
-I drink to that! I''ll open a bottle of Veuve Cliquot and share it with my neighbours, when this pinky piiiiig will be thrown in Jail.
What happened to the good-old-days when Vice Presidents did nothing, tried to avoid scandals and kept their dammned mouths shut until the next election?
Because it is against the law. And when you allow a regime to be above the law, then they can turn around and use the same rational on you. America has become a great nation because of our Constitution and our democracy. We signed an agreement NOT to torture. And then the Bush regime tortured and then lied and said they didn''t torture.
Signing an agreement and not sticking to it is dishonorable and weak. Then all other agreements become suspect and you are no longer a nation to be trusted.
We are not weak on the war on terrorism. Remember we voted to go into Afghanistan and get Osama and the terrorists, also. But the war on terror was dropped for the war for oil.
Larry Cox, executive director,
Amnesty International USA
-Makes me think there is soemthing wrong. The constitution is being disrupted. USA is getting under a coup status-Martial Law, with no evidence of eminent danger to the security of the country.
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