Mukasey: Waterboarding Me Would be Torture

By Eric on January 30, 2008

It’s finally here! All throughout Michael Mukasey’s confirmation hearings, the Attorney General-to-be refused to tell Senators whether or not he thought waterboarding was torture. But today, finally, in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Sen. Kennedy was able to evoke an answer from Mukasey.

[KENNEDY:] So I won’t even bother to ask you whether waterboarding counts as torture under out laws because I know from your letter that we won’t get a straight answer, so let me ask you this: Would waterboarding be torture if it was done to you?

MUKASEY: I would feel that it was.

So there you have it. If the United States government tied up Michael Mukasey, blindfolded him, and poured water over his face to convince him that he was drowning, that would be torture. But to do the same thing to anyone else:

Well, it might be torture, it might not be. He can’t say. You know, national security and all that business.

Of course, Mukasey’s answer is hardly original. You might recall Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell’s comments a few weeks ago:

“If I had water draining into my nose, oh God, I just can’t imagine how painful!” McConnell said in the article. “Whether it’s torture by anybody else’s definition, for me it would be torture.”

But he rejected a suggestion that he personally condemned the practice.

Of course, a few days later, McConnell would clarify his comments by reminding us that The United States Does Not Torture™ so there really isn’t anything for us to worry about and we should stop wasting our time with these silly things.

Mukasey continues to regurgitate administration talking points, and the United States will continue to torture.

Tags: Edward Kennedy, Michael Mukasey, torture, waterboarding

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Comments

There are 2 responses to “Mukasey: Waterboarding Me Would be Torture”

1. [...] have made some pretty ridiculous comments about waterboarding. Attorney General Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence McConnell have both said that waterboarding would be torture [...]

   —crazydrumguy | readblog | » Someone Tell Huckabee that Torture Isn’t Funny on February 17, 2008 at 10:26 am

2. [...] have made some pretty ridiculous comments about waterboarding. Attorney General Mukasey and Director of National Intelligence McConnell have both said that waterboarding would be torture [...]

   —Student Life on February 17, 2008 at 10:35 am