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Director Brennan: CIA Won't Waterboard Again, Even If Ordered By Future President (msnbc.com)

An anonymous reader quotes a report from MSNBC: CIA Director John Brennan told NBC News in an exclusive interview that his agency will not engage in harsh "enhanced interrogation" practices, including waterboarding, which critics call torture -- even if ordered to by a future president. "I will not agree to carry out some of these tactics and techniques I've heard bandied about because this institution needs to endure," Brennan said. The CIA used waterboarding and other techniques on terrorist suspects after the 9/11 attacks. But in January 2009, President Obama banned the practices in his first few days in office with an executive order. When asked specifically about waterboarding Brennan could not have been clearer. "Absolutely, I would not agree to having any CIA officer carrying out waterboarding again," he said. Donald Trump is a staunch supporter of torture, saying he would bring back waterboarding and "a hell of a lot worse" to retrieve information from potential terrorists. Ted Cruz says he would "not bring [waterboarding] back in any sort of widespread use" by rank and file soldiers and agents, but as President he would "use whatever enhanced interrogation methods to keep this country safe."

2 of 319 comments (clear)

  1. Until the next time it happens. by mitcheli · · Score: 3, Informative

    Torture was already deemed illegal by the Geneva Convention. And yet, here we are again. It's probably not the President that will encourage water boarding again, it's probably their lawyer who convinces the leadership at the time that water boarding does not constitute torture and is as such perfectly legal. ... Not that this EVER happens.

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  2. Re:Can we stop the "critics call torture" horseshi by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 3, Informative

    Ask the many journalists who deliberately had it done to them while writing (or broadcasting) about this very subject.

    Sure, let's ask them! Guess what? They say that it is torture.

    People who have, by your definition, been "actually tortured" - like McCain - say that waterboarding is torture.

    In short, it is obviously torture.

    And you're scum for repeatedly defending it here.