Bush Administration Blocked Waterboarding Critic

Former DOJ Official Tested the Method Himself, in Quest to Form Torture Policy.




http://www.abcnews.go.com/WN/DOJ/story?id=3814076&page=1

A senior Justice Department official, charged with reworking the administration's legal position on torture in 2004, became so concerned about the controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding that he decided to experience it firsthand, sources told ABC News.

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U.S. Official Undergoes WaterboardingDaniel Levin, then acting assistant attorney general, went to a military base near Washington and underwent the procedure to inform his analysis of different interrogation techniques.

After the experience, Levin told White House officials that even though he knew he wouldn't die, he found the experience terrifying and thought that it clearly simulated drowning.

Levin, who refused to comment for this story, concluded water boarding could be illegal torture unless performed in a highly limited way, and with close supervision. And, sources tell ABC News, he believed the Bush Administration had failed to offer clear guidelines on its use.



Bush Administration Blocked Critic