Thursday
Jul172008
Water boarding proved "very valuable" in Guantanamo
Former Attorney General John Ashcroft spoke at the fifth part of a hearing entitled “From the Department of Justice to Guantanamo Bay: Administration Lawyers and Administration Interrogation Rules.” Ashcroft defended the Department of Justice’s action in Guantanamo Bay, saying that they worked within the framework of the law and never supported torture.
Ashcroft said that after 9/11, the Bush Administration’s overriding goal was to do everything within its power and within the limits of the law, to keep this country and the American people safe from terrorist attacks. He spoke about the Administration’s efforts to work within the law and follow Supreme Court rulings about torture and interrogations in Guantanamo, and that water boarding was never ruled as torture and has “proved very valuable.” Although the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against certain features of Administration policy in each of these cases, the “Justices themselves were closely divided and the courts of appeals had uniformly upheld the Administration’s positions.”
Ashcroft spoke in defense of the several memos in the Department of Justice about interrogation techniques and anti-torture, saying they were all legal and worked off Supreme Court decisions. Ashcroft said that the Administration’s continual quest for legal guidance and specific authorization for measures necessitated by the “war on terror” is evidence of a government striving to keep within the limits of law, not one seeking to ignore or evade those limits.
Also at the hearing was Benjamin Wittes, follow and research director in public law at the Brookings Institute. Wittes said that the Army Field Manual contains a great deal of specificity about the interrogation tactics used and it is a mark of how successful the policy changes have been that not even human rights groups today complain much about contemporary military interrogation policies. However, the current state of the law is inadequate due to the vagueness which gives the Administration enough interpretive latitude to authorize some pretty extreme tactics, such as water boarding, Wittes said.
Ashcroft said that after 9/11, the Bush Administration’s overriding goal was to do everything within its power and within the limits of the law, to keep this country and the American people safe from terrorist attacks. He spoke about the Administration’s efforts to work within the law and follow Supreme Court rulings about torture and interrogations in Guantanamo, and that water boarding was never ruled as torture and has “proved very valuable.” Although the Supreme Court ultimately ruled against certain features of Administration policy in each of these cases, the “Justices themselves were closely divided and the courts of appeals had uniformly upheld the Administration’s positions.”
Ashcroft spoke in defense of the several memos in the Department of Justice about interrogation techniques and anti-torture, saying they were all legal and worked off Supreme Court decisions. Ashcroft said that the Administration’s continual quest for legal guidance and specific authorization for measures necessitated by the “war on terror” is evidence of a government striving to keep within the limits of law, not one seeking to ignore or evade those limits.
Also at the hearing was Benjamin Wittes, follow and research director in public law at the Brookings Institute. Wittes said that the Army Field Manual contains a great deal of specificity about the interrogation tactics used and it is a mark of how successful the policy changes have been that not even human rights groups today complain much about contemporary military interrogation policies. However, the current state of the law is inadequate due to the vagueness which gives the Administration enough interpretive latitude to authorize some pretty extreme tactics, such as water boarding, Wittes said.
tagged 
Bush, CIA, Guantanamo, john ashcroft, torture, water boarding in Congress, News/Commentary
Bush, CIA, Guantanamo, john ashcroft, torture, water boarding in Congress, News/Commentary
Pelosi on Water-boarding
Today on Capitol Hill Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi fielded questions on water-boarding and interrogation during her weekly press conference.
Asked about whether or not she raised objections during her time on the House Intelligence Committee during a briefing on interrogation methods, including water-boarding, Pelosi said, “It’s not appropriate for me to talk about what happens at briefings.”
“It’s very interesting that people are talking so freely, but I can say this...we were not and I repeat, we were not told that water-boarding or any of these other enhanced interrogation methods were used. What they did tell us was that they had some, the office of legislative council opinions that they could be used...further if and when they would be used they would brief Congress at that time,” said Pelosi.
Pelosi added, “Flat out they never briefed us this was happening. In fact they said they would, if and when they did....they can say whatever they want but the fact is they did not brief us in that regard.”
Pelosi said, “I have questioned the value of the briefings over and over and over again, we only know what they chose to tell us.”
In terms of investigations into the the people who made the decisions to use interrogation methods Pelosi said, “I have always been for a truth commission because I think that this is very important...I don’t think there should be total immunity, I think it should be a case by case basis.”
In closing Pelosi said, “Let me make this clear. These are not glory days for our country in terms of this enhanced interrogation and the rest, and in terms of how information is acquired in our country outside the law. It is clear now that, that has happened.”
Pelosi added, “As a member of the Intelligence Committee I thought I was being briefed, until I became a Senior member and then I realized that the members of the committee are not privy to a great deal of information and that simply is not right.” -