Think Progress
According to a November 2007 CNN poll, 69 percent of the public believes waterboarding is a form of torture. But yesterday on Meet the Press, CIA director Michael Hayden was dismissive about whether the CIA’s waterboarding constitutes torture. “We have not waterboarded anyone in now over five years,” Hayden said, concluding that it is “an uninteresting question for the Central Intelligence Agency.”
When asked about the broader issue of torture, Hayden referred to it as just a “legal term,” saying that the ongoing public discussion on “torture” per se tends to “cloud the debate”:
Well, first of all, we’re not talking about torture, all right? I mean, torture is a legal term. Now, there are some things that are illegal that are not, that are not torture. And so we cloud the debate when, when we throw the word torture out there, I think, in a far too casual way.
Watch it:
Hayden’s claim that torture is largely a “legal term” underscores the administration’s approach to detainee treatment. Instead of considering it a moral or leadership issue, the Bush administration has repeatedly narrowed the legal definition of torture to fit its aims.
Later in the interview, Hayden said he is unaware of how the Justice Department currently defines waterboarding’s legality — because he hasn’t asked:
RUSSERT: Do you believe now that the Justice Department allows the CIA to engage in waterboarding?
HAYDEN: I don’t — the real answer is — I’m going to be very candid — I have no idea. And do you know why? Because I’ve not asked. And, and I know that previous opinions may no longer be extant because there have been a series of changes in American law since those opinions were issued.
Hayden claimed that waterboarding is “uninteresting” to the CIA as they haven’t waterboarded in five years. But if this is the case, then why did CIA officials leave “open the option of reinstating” the tactic as late as this year?
Transcript: (more…)
