Former Vice President Dick Cheney ‘a strong believer’ in waterboarding
WASHINGTON – Former Vice President Dick Cheney reiterated his praise for waterboarding Al Qaeda terrorists on Monday, calling it a “well done” technique that gathered valuable information from unusually bad guys.
“I’m a strong believer in it,” Cheney told a National Press Club audience. “I thought it was well done.”
Cheney answered written questions after speaking at a ceremony for reporting awards named for the late President Gerald Ford, whom Cheney served as White House chief of staff.
Cheney said the controversial policy of simulating drowning grew out of a CIA request for guidance on “what can you do that’s appropriate and what you can do that’s not appropriate.”
Notwithstanding Cheney’s enthusiasm, waterboarding was banned by the Bush administration in 2003. President Obama has said waterboarding is torture and repugnant to American values. Cheney remains unconvinced. “I don’t believe that we engaged in torture,” he argued.
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