Drowning Dick Cheney

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By Demetri Sevastopulo in Washington

Updated: 1:42 a.m. ET Oct 27, 2006
Dick Cheney, US vice-president, has endorsed the use of "water boarding" for terror suspects and confirmed that the controversial interrogation technique was used on Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, the senior al-Qaeda operative now being held at Guantánamo Bay.

Mr Cheney was responding to a conservative radio interviewer who asked whether water boarding, which involves simulated drowning, was a "no-brainer" if the information it yielded would save American lives. "It's a no-brainer for me," Mr Cheney replied.

The comments by the vice-president, who has been one of the leading advocates of reducing limitations on what interrogation techniques can be used in the war on terror, are the first public confirmation that water boarding has been used on suspects held in US custody.

A spokeswoman for Mr Cheney denied that he had endorsed or confirmed the use of water-boarding.

"The VP was talking about the interrogation programme, clearly noting that we do not torture and we live up to our international treaty obligations. He does not discuss any techniques or methods that may or may not be used in questioning," said Lea Anne McBride.

Mr Cheney said recent legislation passed by Congress allowed the White House to continue its aggressive interrogation programme.

But his remarks appear to stand at odds with the views of three key Republican senators who helped draft the recently passed Military Commission Act, and who argue that water boarding is not permitted according to that law.

"[It's] a direct affront to the primary authors of the Military Commission Act in the Senate – John McCain, Lindsey Graham and John Warner – all of whom have publicly stated that the legislation signed by the president last week makes water boarding a war crime," said Jennifer Daskal, advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. "This is Cheney ignoring the consensus of his own Pentagon," she said, referring to comments by senior officials that harsh interrogation techniques do not produce reliable intelligence.

John Bellinger, the State Department legal adviser, last week declined to answer specific questions on water boarding, saying Congress would have to determine whether specific interrogation techniques were permissible under the Geneva ­conventions.

The Bush administration was forced to work with Congress to pass the Military Commissions Act after the Supreme Court ruled that al-Qaeda suspects were entitled to some protections under the Geneva convention. "Any procedures going forward would have to comply with the standards of Common Article 3 [of the Geneva conventions], including the prohibition on cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment . . . ," Mr Bellinger said. "Congress would have to agree that they are permitted under the law."

Asked in the radio interview whether he would agree that the debate over terrorist interrogations and water boarding was "a little silly", Mr Cheney responded: "I do agree".

"I think the terrorist threat, for example, with respect to our ability to interrogate high-value detainees like Khaled Sheikh Mohammed, that's been a very important tool that we've had to be able to secure the nation," he said.

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Cheney did not back simulated drowning-White House
Fri 27 Oct 2006 11:04 AM ET
WASHINGTON, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Vice President Dick Cheney was not talking about simulated drowning when he agreed this week that a "dunk in water" for terrorism suspects might be useful, the White House said on Friday.

Cheney was asked on Tuesday by a conservative radio host from Fargo, North Dakota: "Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?"

"Well, it's a no-brainer for me," Cheney replied.

His comment prompted complaints from human rights advocates that he was endorsing a technique called "waterboarding" that simulates drowning and is considered torture by some critics.

"If Iran or Syria detained an American, Cheney is saying that it would be perfectly fine for them to hold that American's head under water until he nearly drowns, if that's what they think they need to do to save Iranian or Syrian lives," said Tom Malinowski, Washington advocacy director for Human Rights Watch.

White House spokesman Tony Snow insisted that U.S. officials do not talk publicly about interrogation techniques because they are classified.

"The vice president didn't make any comments about waterboarding," Snow said at a contentious morning briefing on the topic.

He shrugged off Cheney's answer to what he dismissed as a "loosely worded question" and said the United States does not practice or condone torture.

U.S. interrogation techniques came under scrutiny after evidence emerged of the abuse of detainees in Iraq and Afghanistan, damaging America's image around the world.

The possibility of waterboarding being used as a technique was a factor in a revolt by three senior Republican senators in September against a Bush proposal for establishing a CIA interrogation program for terrorism suspects.

The White House has refused to describe what interrogation techniques will be allowed under the program, although Arizona Republican U.S. Sen. John McCain has said he was confident waterboarding and other such techniques would be banned under it.



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