Cain And Bachmann Praise Waterboarding

[Rocko]

By Senator John McCain

But this must be an informed debate. Former Attorney General Michael Mukasey recently claimed that "the intelligence that led to bin Laden . . . began with a disclosure from Khalid Sheik Mohammed?, who broke like a dam under the pressure of harsh interrogation techniques that included waterboarding. He loosed a torrent of information — including eventually the nickname of a trusted courier of bin Laden." That is false.

CIA Director Leon Panetta told me the trail to bin Laden did not begin with a disclosure from Khalid Sheik Mohammed, who was waterboarded 183 times. The first mention of Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti — the nickname of the al-Qaeda courier who ultimately led us to bin Laden — came from a detainee held in another country, who we believe was not tortured. None of the three detainees who were waterboarded provided Abu Ahmed's real name, his whereabouts or an accurate description of his role in al-Qaeda.

In fact, the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" on Khalid Sheik Mohammed produced false and misleading information. He specifically told his interrogators that Abu Ahmed had moved to Peshawar, got married and ceased his role as an al-Qaeda facilitator — none of which was true. According to the Senate intelligence committee, the best intelligence gained from a CIA detainee — information describing Abu Ahmed al-Kuwaiti's real role in al-Qaeda and his true relationship to bin Laden — was obtained through standard, noncoercive means.

More: John McCain: Torture doesn't work - The Denver Post

I've heard this argument before, from both sides of the spectrum, I simply disagree. Speaking as someone who has stared down the barrel of a gun, I disagree.

 

[IndependntLogic]

By Benjy Sarlin

Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann aggressively defended the use of waterboarding, while Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman condemned torture as immoral and illegal.

Asked specifically about waterboarding, Cain tipped his hand. “I don’t see it as torture,” he said. “I see it as an enhanced interrogation technique.”

Bachmann issued an enthusiastic appeal to putting the now-banned method back into America’s interrogation playbook.

Paul rebutted the two on legal, moral, and pragmatic grounds.

Huntsman agreed with the Texas Congressman.

GOP Candidates Split Over Torture | TPM 2012

I condone effective interrogation technitques in about one out of 2,000 cases. Water-boarding is not an effective interrogation technique though.