"Americans do not join the CIA to commit torture,":

[emad]

Jeffrey Smith, a former agency legal adviser, wrote in the Washington Post yesterday.


SNIP:
According to the New York Times, the 2004 report by the inspector general at the time, John Helgerson, expressed particular concern over an approved technique known as "waterboarding", which involves strapping a detainee to a board and submerging him until he believes he is drowning. Reports suggest the method was used on some top al-Qaida prisoners, such as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, one of the masterminds of the September 11 attacks, who is being detained in a secret location outside the US.

FROM:
Interrogation broke UN pact, CIA report warned
http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,12271,1638857,00.html