Torture: Dick Cheney all in on 'enhanced interrogation'
On NBC鈥檚 鈥�Meet the Press鈥� Sunday, host Chuck Todd did his best to get Dick Cheney to budge on the CIA鈥檚 鈥渆nhanced interrogation techniques,鈥� which most of the rest of the world calls torture.
Mr. Todd might as well have tried bamboo slivers under the former Vice President鈥檚 fingernails. Score it Cheney 1, Todd zip.
Even mention of the most cringe-worthy CIA technique revealed in the Senate Intelligence Committee鈥檚 6,700-page report this past week 鈥� something called 鈥渞ectal hydration鈥� and 鈥渞ectal feeding鈥� 鈥� could not make Cheney wince.
鈥淚 believe it was done for medical reasons,鈥� Cheney said. 鈥淭hat was not something that was done as part of the interrogation program. It was not torture, as it was not part of the program.鈥�
Medical experts told the committee (and others have said publicly) that there is no legitimate reason for that technique, no justification other than to cause fear and pain.
On the most infamous technique used 鈥� the drowning procedure known as waterboarding 鈥� Todd asked Cheney how it could be legal if Japanese interrogators were prosecuted for waterboarding allied POWs during World War II. Speaking on CBS鈥檚 鈥淔ace the Nation鈥� Sunday, Sen. John McCain 鈥� imprisoned and tortured for more than five years in Vietnam 鈥� pointed out that some of those Japanese interrogators who used waterboarding were executed.
Cheney called any suggestion of moral equivalence 鈥渁 cheap shot.鈥�
Asked to define 鈥渢orture,鈥� Cheney said he and other Bush administration officials relied on assurances by the Justice Department and the White House Office of Legal Counsel that waterboarding, sleep deprivation, cramped confinement, dunking in cold water to the point of causing hypothermia, and other harsh measures were legal under US and international law.
鈥淎ll of the techniques that were authorized by the president were, in effect, blessed by the Justice Department opinion that we could go forward with those without, in fact, committing torture,鈥� he said.
Cheney also insisted that 鈥渆nhanced interrogation techniques鈥� produced actionable intelligence that saved lives, which the Senate committee strongly denies.
鈥淚t worked,鈥� Cheney said. 鈥淚t absolutely did work.鈥�
In his highly unusual press conference last week, CIA Director John Brennan said that whether or not the use of such techniques led directly to actionable intelligence is 鈥渦nknown and unknowable.鈥�
Mr. Brennan also said聽that some of the techniques used to make those with suspected terrorist links talk were "abhorrent and should be repudiated by all.鈥�
As other critics of the Senate report have insisted, Cheney said it was the product of a 鈥減artisan operation.鈥�
Appearing on 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� after Cheney, Sen. Ron Wyden, (D) of Oregon, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, took strong exception.
鈥淔acts aren't partisan, Chuck,鈥� Sen. Wyden said. 鈥淲e reviewed six million pages of documents; the full report has 38,000 footnotes. And what we've thought to do was very careful. And that is to take the statements the CIA made to the American people, made to the Congress, made to the Justice Department, made to the president, and we compared it to their own internal communications in real time. There is a mountain of contradictions.鈥�
Cheney remained unruffled and polite 鈥� friendly, even 鈥� during his 鈥淢eet the Press鈥� appearance as Todd probed for any cracks in his position as a chief participant in developing and overseeing the Bush administration鈥檚 tough response regarding those suspected of having terrorist connections.
鈥淚 would do it again in a minute,鈥� he said.
As she did during CIA Director Brennan鈥檚 press conference the other day, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, (D) of California, who chairs the intelligence committee, tweeted up a storm as Cheney was having his way with Todd.
