McCain Unequivocally Says That Waterboarding is Torture

Credit where credit is due. Sen. John McCain on Fox News this morning said, in no uncertain terms, that waterboarding is undoubtedly torture. Reacting to the fact that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times, McCain had this to say:

One is too much. Waterboarding is torture, period. I can assure you that once enough physical pain is inflicted on someone, they will tell that interrogator whatever they think they want to hear. And most importantly, it serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us.

Nice to see that McCain still has at least a few honest bones left in his body. Good for him.

Update: Also appearing on Fox News, fired NYT columnist conservative commentator William Kristol claims to not understand what all the torture memo fuss is about:

Wallace: As you read the memos and you learn what we did and how top Justice Department officials justified it, are you struck by how brutal we were or how careful we were?

Kristol: How careful. I mean has any other country at war gotten memos from the Justice Department? Extremely carefully of recent I would say. Especially the Steve Bradbury 2005 memos before going ahead and trying to deal with the rather small number of terrorists who had been involved in murdering thousands of Americans and were very much intending to do more of that..I think..you read those memos, you think that's what everyone's so upset about.

Hmm, who should we listen to... Coddled upper-crust douchebiscuit William Kristol or Sen. John McCain, who was repeatedly tortured at the hands of the Vietnamese... Hmm...

Update 2: Super fringey ultra-wingnut Deroy Murdock has a charming piece up on the National Review that makes the argument that we should all be proud of waterboarding. I wonder what Sen. McCain might have to say to this fine gentleman?

Though clearly uncomfortable, waterboarding loosens lips without causing permanent physical injuries (and unlikely even temporary ones). If terrorists suffer long-term nightmares about waterboarding, better that than more Americans crying themselves to sleep after their loved ones have been shredded by bombs or baked in skyscrapers.

In short, there is nothing “repugnant” about waterboarding.

Update 3: No one could have predicted that rabid Bush apologist David Rivkin would do a complete 180 on waterboarding. In a December 2008 appearance on Al Jazeera English, Rivkin stated emphatically that torture is “always unacceptable” and that in his view “waterboarding is torture“:

RIVKIN: Let me clarify, torture in my view is always unacceptable, and in fact I frankly think characterizing American interrogation policy, or debates about interrogation policy, as torture is misleading. … Torture is defined somewhat imprecisely in international law, but basically, in my view, waterboarding is torture.

Fast forward to the present day (a whopping four months later), and this is what the esteemed Mr. Rivkin has to say:

In today’s Wall Street Journal David Rivkin and Lee Casey — who have made something of a cottage industry out of defending the worst actions of the Bush administration — argue that the OLC torture memos released last week by the Obama administration “prove” that the Bush administration did not torture detainees. “Far from ‘green lighting’ torture…the memos detail the actual techniques used and the many measures taken to ensure that interrogations did not cause severe pain or degradation,” they write.

Update 4: Andrew Sullivan sums up the "debate" about whether or not waterboarding is "torture" thusly:

Remember also that there is no legal debate of any kind as to the legality of waterboarding someone once, let alone 183 times. It is a war crime. Again: there can be no debate about this. No legal authority of any kind in any country until the Bush administration has ruled otherwise. The waterboard is prominently featured in the torture museum of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia. But there is no concern at Fox about the rule of law at all. Recall that the GOP impeached a president for perjury in a civil lawsuit. Because it was a breach of the rule of law. But war crimes? It's time to move on ...