Cheney Still Denies Waterboarding Is Torture, Would ‘Do It All Over Again’

Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney leaves after attending the funeral service of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at St. Paul's Cathedral, in London, Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Margaret Thatcher, B... Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney leaves after attending the funeral service of former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher at St. Paul's Cathedral, in London, Wednesday, April 17, 2013. Margaret Thatcher, Britain's Iron Lady, was laid to rest Wednesday with a level of pomp and protest reflecting her status as a commanding, polarizing political figure. (AP Photo/Olivia Harris, Pool) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Former Vice President Dick Cheney still doesn’t believe waterboarding qualifies as torture and told an audience Thursday night at American University that he would “do it all over again” if he had to.

“The accusations are not true,” Cheney said of some student protesters’ accusations that his sanctioning of enhanced interrogation tactics makes him a war criminal, as quoted by American University’s student newspaper The Eagle.

Cheney said that three people were waterboarded during the course of his vice presidency, according to The Eagle’s report. The practice involves simulating the experience of drowning by pouring large quantities of water over a person’s nose and mouth.

“If I would have to do it all over again, I would,” he added. “The results speak for themselves.”

It’s a justification Cheney has used before, and one that has been disputed by members of the intelligence community. Cheney repeatedly claimed that waterboarding Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks, was a “success” that yielded actionable intelligence even though intelligence officials denied that assertion. Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has also said that enhanced interrogation techniques failed to produce the intelligence that led U.S. officials to Osama bin Laden.

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: