Dems to Mukasey: NOW Can You Tell Us if Waterboading Is Torture?

Dems to Mukasey: Now Can You Tell Us if Waterboading Is Torture?
By Paul Kiel - January 23, 2008, 11:02AM


As a preview of Attorney General Michael Mukasey's appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee next Wednesday, all ten Democrats on the committee signed a letter to him today from Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) asking whether he can finally tell them whether he thinks waterboarding is torture or not.

During his confirmation hearing, Mukasey made his infamous "massive hedge" about whether the technique was torture. He promised to institute a review and has apparently followed through. "It has been over two months since then, ample time for you to study this issue and reach a conclusion," the Dems write.

They want answers to two different questions:

1. Is the use of waterboading as an interrogation technique illegal under U.S. law, including treaty obligations?

2. Based on your review of other coercive interrogation techniques and the legal analysis authorizing their use, what is your assessment of whether such techniques comply with the law?

The full letter is at link~

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/005123.php

Too bad they didn't insist on his review/answer BEFORE he was appointed.