Presidential Vetoes: George W. Bush and Waterboarding
One of the more controversial aspects of the "war on terror" declared by President George W. Bush during his presidency involved the use of an enhanced interrogation technique known as "waterboarding". This is a procedure used in the interrogation of prisoners of war in which water is poured over a cloth covering the face and breathing passages of an immobilized subject, causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning. Waterboarding is said to cause extreme pain, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, and broken bones due to struggling against restraints. It can also cause lasting psychological damage, and is capable of causing the death of the subject.
Waterboarding is considered to be torture by many leading authorities and legal experts, though this opinion is not universally accepted in the United States. The United Nations' Report of the Committee Against Torture published in November of 2006 opposed the use of interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, considering these to constitute a form of torture. The U.S. government released a memorandum written in 2002 from the Office of Legal Counsel that gave the opinion that waterboarding did not constitute torture and could be used to interrogate subjects. In reliance on this opinion, President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were both often quoted as saying "we do not torture."
The Central Intelligence Agency sought presidential authority to use waterboarding as one of several interrogation techniques and this authority was granted by President Bush, who relied on the legal opinion he had received. Between 2002 and 2003 the CIA considered waterboarding to be legal based this opinion. It also argued that terror detainees were not protected by the Geneva Conventions' ban on torture.
Although that memo was later withdrawn, President Bush and many others in his administration believed that these enhanced interrogations "provided critical information" to preserve American lives. The use of the practice was questionable and even U.S. Army Field Manuals state "that harsh interrogation tactics elicit unreliable information." Former CIA officer Bob Baer has stated in an interview, "you can get anyone to confess to anything if the torture's bad enough." Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican candidate for President, and a man who himself was tortured during his five and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, has stated unequivocally several times that he considers waterboarding to be torture
On October 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006, a law which was passed following the United States Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006). That decision held that the U.S. government could prosecute enemy combatants by military commission rather than a standard trial. The law also denied such prisoners access to habeas corpus. It prohibits the torture of detainees, but allows the president to determine what constitutes torture.
In early 2008, Congress passed H. R. 2082, "The Intelligence Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2008." This was a bill that would have expanded congressional oversight over the intelligence community and banned the use of waterboarding as well as other forms of interrogation not permitted under the United States Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations. When the bill came out of committee on December 6, 2007, it had a provision barring the CIA and the rest of the federal government from many interrogation tactics criticized as "torture" and "abusive" by civil liberties groups, including waterboarding. The provision was inserted by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. The provision limited the CIA to the 19 interrogation tactics contained in the U.S. Army Field manual. This had the effect of banning waterboarding, exposure to extreme temperatures and other techniques used on War on Terror detainees after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Other banned interrogation techniques included mock executions, beatings, electrical shocks, forced nudity, sexual acts, causing hypothermia and heat injuries. Congress had already banned such tactics from being used by the military through the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. Senator McCain had sponsored the Act. McCain asked the Bush administration to clarify the matter by declaring it illegal.
The House approved the bill, by a vote of 222-199 and the Senate approved the bill by a 51-45 vote on Feb. 13, 2008.
On March 8, 2008, President Bush vetoed H.R. 2082. In his weekly radio address he said "the bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the War on Terror, so I vetoed it." He added "This is no time for Congress to abandon practices that have a proven track record of keeping America safe."
On March 11, Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to lead the House in a vote overriding the veto, but the vote fell short of the required two-thirds majority. The final vote was 224 for and 188 against the override.
In January of 2009, in his first week in office, President Barack Obama signed "Executive Order 13491 – Ensuring Lawful Interrogations". This order requires the Army Field Manual to be used as a guide for terror interrogations including the CIA. The order bans the use of torture and other coercive techniques, such as waterboarding.
Following is an excerpt from an interview with President Bush in which he discusses the policy of waterboarding:
Waterboarding is considered to be torture by many leading authorities and legal experts, though this opinion is not universally accepted in the United States. The United Nations' Report of the Committee Against Torture published in November of 2006 opposed the use of interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, considering these to constitute a form of torture. The U.S. government released a memorandum written in 2002 from the Office of Legal Counsel that gave the opinion that waterboarding did not constitute torture and could be used to interrogate subjects. In reliance on this opinion, President Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney were both often quoted as saying "we do not torture."
The Central Intelligence Agency sought presidential authority to use waterboarding as one of several interrogation techniques and this authority was granted by President Bush, who relied on the legal opinion he had received. Between 2002 and 2003 the CIA considered waterboarding to be legal based this opinion. It also argued that terror detainees were not protected by the Geneva Conventions' ban on torture.
Although that memo was later withdrawn, President Bush and many others in his administration believed that these enhanced interrogations "provided critical information" to preserve American lives. The use of the practice was questionable and even U.S. Army Field Manuals state "that harsh interrogation tactics elicit unreliable information." Former CIA officer Bob Baer has stated in an interview, "you can get anyone to confess to anything if the torture's bad enough." Senator John McCain, the 2008 Republican candidate for President, and a man who himself was tortured during his five and a half years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, has stated unequivocally several times that he considers waterboarding to be torture
On October 17, 2006, President Bush signed into law the Military Commissions Act of 2006, a law which was passed following the United States Supreme Court's decision in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld, 548 U.S. 557 (2006). That decision held that the U.S. government could prosecute enemy combatants by military commission rather than a standard trial. The law also denied such prisoners access to habeas corpus. It prohibits the torture of detainees, but allows the president to determine what constitutes torture.
In early 2008, Congress passed H. R. 2082, "The Intelligence Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2008." This was a bill that would have expanded congressional oversight over the intelligence community and banned the use of waterboarding as well as other forms of interrogation not permitted under the United States Army Field Manual on Human Intelligence Collector Operations. When the bill came out of committee on December 6, 2007, it had a provision barring the CIA and the rest of the federal government from many interrogation tactics criticized as "torture" and "abusive" by civil liberties groups, including waterboarding. The provision was inserted by Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California. The provision limited the CIA to the 19 interrogation tactics contained in the U.S. Army Field manual. This had the effect of banning waterboarding, exposure to extreme temperatures and other techniques used on War on Terror detainees after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Other banned interrogation techniques included mock executions, beatings, electrical shocks, forced nudity, sexual acts, causing hypothermia and heat injuries. Congress had already banned such tactics from being used by the military through the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005. Senator McCain had sponsored the Act. McCain asked the Bush administration to clarify the matter by declaring it illegal.
The House approved the bill, by a vote of 222-199 and the Senate approved the bill by a 51-45 vote on Feb. 13, 2008.
On March 8, 2008, President Bush vetoed H.R. 2082. In his weekly radio address he said "the bill Congress sent me would take away one of the most valuable tools in the War on Terror, so I vetoed it." He added "This is no time for Congress to abandon practices that have a proven track record of keeping America safe."
On March 11, Speaker Nancy Pelosi attempted to lead the House in a vote overriding the veto, but the vote fell short of the required two-thirds majority. The final vote was 224 for and 188 against the override.
In January of 2009, in his first week in office, President Barack Obama signed "Executive Order 13491 – Ensuring Lawful Interrogations". This order requires the Army Field Manual to be used as a guide for terror interrogations including the CIA. The order bans the use of torture and other coercive techniques, such as waterboarding.
Following is an excerpt from an interview with President Bush in which he discusses the policy of waterboarding: