Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) fired back Monday against a handful of Republican presidential candidates who said over the weekend that they support the practice of allowing federal law enforcement officers to waterboard suspected terrorists.
“Very disappointed by statements at SC GOP debate supporting waterboarding. Waterboarding is torture,” McCain tweeted this morning.
The 2008 GOP presidential nominee was responding to comments made by a few current candidates during Saturday night’s debate in South Carolina.
Businessman Herman Cain said he would bring back the controversial method. “I don’t see it as torture,” he said. “I see it as an enhanced interrogation technique.”
Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) and former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) also said they favor waterboarding.
Under former president George W. Bush, U.S. officials used the technique several times on terror suspects that were detained at the military’s facility in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. President Obama, however, banned waterboarding in 2009.