In Interview, George W. Bush Defends Iraq War and Waterboarding
source: http://www.theblogismine.com/2010/11/09/in-interview-george-w-bush-defends-iraq-war-and-wate...
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In his first major interview since leaving the White House, former president George W. Bush defended the most controversial aspects of his tenure, including the use of waterboarding against terrorism suspects and the invasion of Iraq.
In an interview with Matt Lauer of NBC News, Mr Bush vigorously defended waterboarding, a kind of simulated drowning that was known as an “enhanced interrogation technique” by the Bush administration but regarded as “torture” by many opponents.
Waterboarding is a centuries-old practice used to coerce prisoners during interrogations by using water to cut off oxygen and to create both the feeling and fear of drowning.
It was approved by the Justice Department under President George W. Bush for use by the Central Intelligence Agency on so-called “high value” terrorism suspects, then barred by President Obama on his second day in office.
Interviewer Matt Lauer asked Bush why he believed that waterboarding was legal, a topic of significant dispute. “Because the lawyer said it was legal,” Bush replied. “He said it did not fall within the anti-torture act. I’m not a lawyer. But you gotta trust the judgment of people around you, and I do.”
In his book ‘Decision Points,’ published today, Bush insists the waterboarding practice is not torture, describing it instead as one of a number of “enhanced interrogation techniques”.
The former president said the interrogation technique helped foil attacks on Heathrow airport, Canary Wharf and a number of US targets around the world. Bush said: “Three people were waterboarded and I believe that decision saved lives.”
Asked if he had authorised the use of the technique in the interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Bush answered: “Damn right! We capture the guy, the chief operating officer of al-Qaida, who kills 3,000 people.”
“We felt he had the information about another attack. He says: ‘I’ll talk to you when I get my lawyer.’ I say: ‘What options are available and legal?’” In his memoir, Bush writes that waterboarding was highly effective, providing ‘large amounts of important information.’
“No doubt the procedure was tough, but medical experts assured the CIA that it did no lasting harm,” he writes. “I knew an interrogation programme this sensitive and controversial would one day become public.”
He continued: “When it did, we would open ourselves up to criticism that America had compromised our moral values. I would have preferred that we get the information another way. But the choice between security and values was real.”
“Their interrogations helped break up plots to attack American diplomatic facilities abroad, Heathrow airport and Canary Wharf in London, and multiple targets in the United States.”
The technique was first approved for Abu Zubaydah, an al-Qaida figure arrested in Pakistan in 2002 who was suspected of involvement in a plot to attack Los Angeles International airport.”
More: http://www.theblogismine.com/2010/11/09/in-interview-george-w-bush-defends-iraq-...
In an interview with Matt Lauer of NBC News, Mr Bush vigorously defended waterboarding, a kind of simulated drowning that was known as an “enhanced interrogation technique” by the Bush administration but regarded as “torture” by many opponents.
Waterboarding is a centuries-old practice used to coerce prisoners during interrogations by using water to cut off oxygen and to create both the feeling and fear of drowning.
It was approved by the Justice Department under President George W. Bush for use by the Central Intelligence Agency on so-called “high value” terrorism suspects, then barred by President Obama on his second day in office.
Interviewer Matt Lauer asked Bush why he believed that waterboarding was legal, a topic of significant dispute. “Because the lawyer said it was legal,” Bush replied. “He said it did not fall within the anti-torture act. I’m not a lawyer. But you gotta trust the judgment of people around you, and I do.”
In his book ‘Decision Points,’ published today, Bush insists the waterboarding practice is not torture, describing it instead as one of a number of “enhanced interrogation techniques”.
The former president said the interrogation technique helped foil attacks on Heathrow airport, Canary Wharf and a number of US targets around the world. Bush said: “Three people were waterboarded and I believe that decision saved lives.”
Asked if he had authorised the use of the technique in the interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Bush answered: “Damn right! We capture the guy, the chief operating officer of al-Qaida, who kills 3,000 people.”
“We felt he had the information about another attack. He says: ‘I’ll talk to you when I get my lawyer.’ I say: ‘What options are available and legal?’” In his memoir, Bush writes that waterboarding was highly effective, providing ‘large amounts of important information.’
“No doubt the procedure was tough, but medical experts assured the CIA that it did no lasting harm,” he writes. “I knew an interrogation programme this sensitive and controversial would one day become public.”
He continued: “When it did, we would open ourselves up to criticism that America had compromised our moral values. I would have preferred that we get the information another way. But the choice between security and values was real.”
“Their interrogations helped break up plots to attack American diplomatic facilities abroad, Heathrow airport and Canary Wharf in London, and multiple targets in the United States.”
The technique was first approved for Abu Zubaydah, an al-Qaida figure arrested in Pakistan in 2002 who was suspected of involvement in a plot to attack Los Angeles International airport.”
More: http://www.theblogismine.com/2010/11/09/in-interview-george-w-bush-defends-iraq-...
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