Occasionally, we’ll hear that Joe Lieberman is generally in line with Democrats, but makes an exception on the war in Iraq and a neocon worldview of foreign policy. When it comes to values and domestic policy, the argument usually goes, Lieberman is generally reliable.<\/p>\n
Let’s just erase that thought from our minds<\/a> now, shall we?<\/p>\n Connecticut Sen. Joe Lieberman reluctantly acknowledged Thursday that he does not believe waterboarding is torture, but believes the interrogation technique should be available only under the most extreme circumstances.<\/p>\n Lieberman was one of 45 senators who voted Wednesday in opposition to a bill that would limit the CIA to the 19 interrogation techniques outlined in the Army field manual. That manual prohibits waterboarding, a method where detainees typically are strapped to a bench and have water poured into their mouth and nose making them feel as if they will drown.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “We are at war,” Lieberman said. “I know enough from public statements made by Osama bin Laden and others as well as classified information I see to know the terrorists are actively planning, plotting to attack us again. I want our government to be able to gather information again within both the law and Geneva Convention.”<\/p>\n Does Lieberman believe the U.S. ability to torture detainees is limitless? No, he says. He would not, for example, approve of “putting burning coals on people’s bodies” in order to obtain potentially life-saving intelligence from terrorists.<\/p>\n The difference, Lieberman said, is that those subjected to waterboarding are “in no real danger.”<\/p>\n It’s a genuine shame to see Joe Lieberman hit the bottom of the barrel — and then drill a hole large enough to fall a little more. “We are at war”? In context, Lieberman was, of course, referring to the “war on terror,” which will presumably never end, given that it’s a war against a tactic that has been, and will be, used forever. In other words, Lieberman isn’t exactly recommending torture on a limited, short-term basis — which would be offensive enough — but rather a pro-torture standard that would exist indefinitely.<\/p>\n
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\nWaterboarding is torture. It’s always been torture. It was utilized during the Spanish Inquisition as a torture technique, and hasn’t improved with age. One need only read the description<\/a> of the practice written by the former Master Instructor and Chief of Training at the US Navy Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School to see that no other label but “torture” applies.<\/p>\n