McCain: GOP rivals are wrong on torture

JASON CLAYWORTH
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

November 5, 2007


Allison, Ia. — Republican presidential candidate John McCain called three of the frontrunners in his party inexperienced because he said they condone a torture technique.

He spoke specifically about waterboarding, a highly controversial military interrogation practice that the Arizona senator equates to torture.

“I think, very frankly, that those who are running for president who have never had any military experience or much national security experience like Rudy Giuliani, like Mitt Romney, like Fred Thompson,” McCain said to a crowd of about 30 people at Main Street Cafe. To say we ought to go ahead and do this waterboarding I think shows a fundamental misunderstanding of our national security.

McCain has taken Giuliani to task on waterboarding before. Last month, the former New York mayor said the question of whether waterboarding should be allowed depends on how the technique is defined and who's doing it.

McCain, a U.S. senator from Arizona, was tortured as a prisoner of war by the North Vietnamese military after his plane was shot down 40 years ago. He has been outspoken in his opposition to torture techniques and his belief that the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay should be closed.

Waterboarding is designed to simulate the sensation of drowning. While techniques vary, it often involves strapping a prisoner to an inclined board with feet above the head. A cloth is tied over the prisoner's face or used as a gag while water is poured over the face.

Justice Department memos, published last month by the New York Times, authorized head slaps, freezing temperatures and waterboarding while interrogating terror suspects. The memo was issued soon after former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales took over the Justice Department.

Article from the Des Moines Register, it can be found here.

The current administration, and many others in the Republican fold, has stood by while we lose our status as a nation that respects human rights. However, John McCain, a man with firsthand experience on the pain of torture, is showing Americans that both parties can respect the Geneva Convention. If dedicated legislators build bipartisan support to end the monstrous practice of torture, our troops and the ideals for which they serve will both be safer. As citizens, we need to make sure we vote with a conscience.