Cheney: 33 detainees suffered 'enhanced interrogation'

[kpete]

Source: Raw Story

Cheney: 33 detainees suffered 'enhanced interrogation'
Nick Juliano
Published: Monday December 22, 2008

Continuing what some might call his his Torture Defense Tour '08, Dick Cheney on Monday revealed for the first time the number of US captives who were subjected to so-called "enhanced interrogation," and he insisted the US had a moral imperative to engage in such techniques.

The outgoing vice president said CIA interrogators subjected 33 detainees to the harsh techniques, which critics say constitute torture, and he vigorously defended the practice. After a weekend interview with Fox News Sunday, Cheney spoke to the conservative Washington Times on Monday.

"I think there were a total of about 33 who were subjected to enhanced interrogation; only three of those who were subjected to waterboarding," Cheney told the paper, according to a transcript released by the Vice President's office Monday. "Was it torture? I don't believe it was torture. We spent a great deal of time and effort getting legal advice, legal opinion out of the Office of Legal Counsel, which is where you go for those kinds of opinions, from the Department of Justice as to where the red lines were out there in terms of this you can do, this you can't do. The CIA handled itself, I think, very appropriately."

Techniques beyond waterboarding include use of stress positions, forced nudity, sleep deprivation and exploitation of fears, for example by threatening detainees with vicious dogs.

Read more: http://rawstory.com/news/2008/Cheney_33_detainees_suffered_enhanced_interrogation_1222.html