Waterboarding

President Bush vetoed a bill that would ban the CIA from using harsh interrogation methods such as waterboarding to break suspected terrorists. Bush claims he vetoed the bill because it would "take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror." The bill would limit CIA interrogators to 19 techniques allowed for use by military questioners. However, Bush said the CIA must retain the use of "specialized interrogation procedures" that the military doesn't need because military methods are designed for questioning "lawful combatants captured on the battlefield" while the CIA is dealing with "hardened terrorists" who have been trained to resist the techniques in the Army manual.

The manual already prohibits hooding prisoners, putting duct tape across their eyes, stripping them naked, forcing them to perform or mimic sexual acts, subjecting prisoners to hypothermia or mock executions, beating, electrocuting, or otherwise physically hurting prisoners. However, one of the most controversial interrogation methods is waterboarding which involves strapping a person down and pouring water over his/her cloth-covered face to simulate the sensation of drowning. Currently, waterboarding is a valid method of interrogation for the CIA to use, however, its usage must be approved on a case-by-case basis by the President. Furthermore, the CIA says it has not used waterboarding since 2003 (when it was used against three prisoners). Democrats are currently working to overrule Bush's veto, however it will be an uphill battle for Congress to overturn the veto because it takes a 2/3 majority and the House vote was 222-199 and the Senate's was 51-45.

Do you think the "harsh interrogation" methods attribute to the fact that there have been no major terrorist attacks (in the US) since September 11th? Is using "harsh interrogation" methods justified if it keeps Americans safe? Will the use of waterboarding and other methods of interrogation put Americans at greater risk of being tortured when captured? How will Bush's veto of the bill affect US human rights efforts overseas?