Dick Cheney on waterboarding
The outgoing vice president leaves with a defense of interrogation methods
Don’t expect any apologies from Dick Cheney, said Thomas DeFrank in the New York Daily News. “In a blizzard of exit interviews, the normally reclusive vice president has defended waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques for suspected terrorists,” along with just about every other part of the Bush administation’s war on terror.
Talk about revisionist history, said Nicole Belle in Crooks and Liars. Cheney told CNN that the controversial method was used sparingly, and yielded actionable intelligence that saved American lives. Besides, he said, unlike pulling out someone’s toenails, waterboarding isn’t torture, anyway. But there’s no telling how many al Qaida suspects were really waterboarded, and any expert will tell you that information you get using torture is unreliable.
Tell that to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, said Erick Erickson in Human Events. He belonged to Osama bin Laden's inner circle, and was the operational planner behind the Sept. 11 attacks. He was also one of the three people who were subjected to waterboarding, which simulates drowning. Without the basic information on al Qaida he provided, "the United States would have been seriously set back in the early advancement of the war."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Soon Cheney's opinion on the issue won't matter, said USA Today in an editorial. And President-elect Barack Obama says that waterboarding is, in fact, torture, and he won't stand for it. Cheney may be right that it made sense to go over to the "dark side" in the wake of 9/11, but now it's up to Obama to reverse the damage that torture has caused.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
-
Today's political cartoons - April 21, 2024
Cartoons Sunday's cartoons - devilish decrees, biblical blunders, and more
By The Week US Published
-
5 carefully selected cartoons about the Trump-Daniels jury selection process
Cartoons Artists take on a stress-free life, rare peers, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Loire Valley Lodges review: sleep, feast and revive in treetop luxury
The Week Recommends Forest hideaway offers chance to relax and reset in Michelin key-winning comfort
By Julia O'Driscoll, The Week UK Published
-
Arizona court reinstates 1864 abortion ban
Speed Read The law makes all abortions illegal in the state except to save the mother's life
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump, billions richer, is selling Bibles
Speed Read The former president is hawking a $60 "God Bless the USA Bible"
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
The debate about Biden's age and mental fitness
In Depth Some critics argue Biden is too old to run again. Does the argument have merit?
By Grayson Quay Published
-
How would a second Trump presidency affect Britain?
Today's Big Question Re-election of Republican frontrunner could threaten UK security, warns former head of secret service
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
'Rwanda plan is less a deterrent and more a bluff'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By The Week UK Published
-
Henry Kissinger dies aged 100: a complicated legacy?
Talking Point Top US diplomat and Nobel Peace Prize winner remembered as both foreign policy genius and war criminal
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Last updated
-
Trump’s rhetoric: a shift to 'straight-up Nazi talk'
Why everyone's talking about Would-be president's sinister language is backed by an incendiary policy agenda, say commentators
By The Week UK Published
-
More covfefe: is the world ready for a second Donald Trump presidency?
Today's Big Question Republican's re-election would be a 'nightmare' scenario for Europe, Ukraine and the West
By Sorcha Bradley, The Week UK Published