We Torture

A fascinating exchange in the Senate yesterday between Senator Feinstein and the new CIA director nominee, Michael Hayden. You may recall that a law was passed last year by veto-proof margins banning all "cruel, inhuman and degrading" treatment of military detainees. It was the McCain Amendment. You may also recall that the president, in signing the amendment into law, issued a statement saying he didn't have to obey it. I don't think any serious person can define "waterboarding" as anything but torture; but even those who reserve such a term for applying electricity to people's testicles will concede that waterboarding is "cruel, inhuman and degrading" under the plain meaning of those words. It involves strapping a human being to a wooden board, tipping the board so that the victim's face is at a lower level than his feet, putting a cloth over his mouth and nose and pouring water over it to simulate drowning. It was a technique used by the Japanese in the Second World War and, famously, by the French in Algeria. In the old days, before Dick Cheney became vice-president, American soldiers found guilty of such a practice were court-martialed. No longer. Here's the money quote from a Washington Post editorial today:

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) asked the nominee a simple question: Is "waterboarding" an acceptable interrogation technique? Gen. Hayden responded: "Let me defer that to closed session, and I would be happy to discuss it in some detail." That was the wrong answer... [W]hy couldn't Gen. Hayden say clearly that the technique is now off-limits?

I think we know the answer. The executive branch views itself beyond the law, is committing war-crimes, has endorsed and practised torture and abuse, and refuses to change. I don't see how any senator can vote for a nominee who can defend that position.