Cruel and Unusual

These days, it seems that many Washington insiders are confused about the controversial interrogation tactic known as waterboarding. During his Senate confirmation hearings, Attorney General nominee Michael Mukasey was unwilling to take a stance on the procedure since he didn’t “know what’s involved in the technique.” Similarly, Republican presidential candidate Rudy Guiliani said that he wasn’t sure about the procedure in a town hall meeting last Wednesday, and accused the “liberal media” of drumming up opposition to the technique.

We’d like to clarify things for them. Waterboarding is a form of torture that involves tipping a person back, placing a cloth in his or her mouth, and then repeatedly pouring water into the cloth to simulate the feeling of drowning.

While campaigning politicians and potential cabinet secretaries may wish to muddy the water with contrived scenarios and ambiguous legalese, the reality is actually fairly simple. Waterboarding is torture, and torture is inherently immoral. The United States should never stoop to such a practice.

Outside of the political arena, there doesn’t seem to be much confusion. Institutions such as the UN Convention against Torture, the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, and an open letter to former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales signed by over 100 American law professors have had no trouble with correctly defining waterboarding as a revolting and illegal form of torture. Even Republican candidate John McCain, who was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, has openly expressed his disapproval of waterboarding, telling the New York Times that “All I can say is that it was used in the Spanish Inquisition, it was used in Pol Pot’s genocide in Cambodia, and there are reports that it is being used against Buddhist monks today.”

For both practical and ethical reasons, the United States must stop equivocating on torture. If we wish to preserve our values and our reputation abroad, unambiguous statements are needed.

Thankfully, Senate Judiciary Committee Charman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) and other prominent Democrats have vowed to stall Mukasey’s confirmation until he clearly his expresses his opposition to waterboarding. We applaud this decision and hope that our next Attorney General can improve on the dubious human rights record of his predecessor, who once famously characterized the Geneva Convention as “quaint.”

Furthermore, presidential candidates should openly condemn waterboarding and all other forms of torture. All Democratic candidates have signed a pledge from the American Freedom Campaign vowing to oppose torture and preserve detainee rights, but so far Ron Paul is the lone Republican to add his name to the list. We hope that all candidates will take the time to learn exactly what waterboarding is, and stop making excuses for torture.