Lieberman Supports Waterboarding: 'It's Not Like Using Hot Coals'

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.

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.

The Senate passed the measure. [...]

"You want to be able to use emergency tech to try to get the information out of that person," Lieberman said. Of course, Lieberman believes such authority has limits. He does not believe the president could authorize having hot coals pressed on someone's flesh to obtain that information.

The difference, he said, is that waterboarding is mostly psychological and there is no permanent physical damage. "It is not like putting burning coals on people's bodies. The person is in no real danger. The impact is psychological," Lieberman said. Lieberman said that his position on waterboarding differs from that of Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who he has endorsed as a presidential candidate. As a prisoner-of-war in Vietnam, McCain was tortured. McCain, he said, believes waterboarding is torture.

Comments

[research]

"no permanent physical damage"

Can any of you imagine what this ALLOWS?

rape, sodomy, shock, drugs, burns, ...

Is this the America We want?

What cowards.

[dax49]

well, leiberman has finally made it completely to the dark side. i wonder if he remembers when he had a soul

[pizzmoe]

Demonstrate it for us, Joe

[baylaw73]

What an ass. I humbly ask you, dear reader, to refrain from judging all Jews by the actions of disgraceful men like Lieberman and Wolfowitz. Thank you.

[Sciguy]

Sounds like Lieberman is the bully kid who punches other kids in the kidneys, because it doesn't show on the outside.

[Ring0]

I wonder if they would consider waterboarding torture if someone did it to Americans?

What would they call it then?

[NWGuy]

The message is to our enemies that waterboarding is acceptable for us to use on them, so therefore, acceptable for them to use on our troops.

So when any of our service men and women who have been waterboarded come home, assuming they survive, will Lieberman, or any of the other republicans, have the balls to look them in the eye and tell them they weren't really tortured?

[Ratel]

so psychological torture is fine, physical torture is not, great, glad you cleared that up Joe. Its good you've got your priorities straight, I mean, healing fear and terror is easy compared to the scabbing and itchiness a healing would will cause. Limping for the rest of your life is really much, much worse than waking up terrified with cold sweats for the rest of your life. I mean, who can't deal with that?

Its sort of like the difference between having your country physically invaded by an army with bombs and missiles and being superficially attacked, say with a few planes, but in a terrifying way. And we all know how that works out.

[TedLaw]

NY Post story spins Lieberman, early attempt to salvage Joe's reputation and set up to reward Holy Joe for supporting McCain: http://www.nypost.com/seven/02152008/postopinion/opedcolumnists/the_world_according_to_joe_97784.htm

[Manx]

Now that Lieberman has embraced the torture tactics of the "Islamo-fascists," how can I distinguish between Lieberman and the "Islamofascists"?

[Helzapoppin]

"The difference, he said, is that waterboarding is mostly psychological and there is no permanent physical damage," Lieberman said.

Joe Lieberman is living proof that psychological damage can indeed be permanent.

[glitz]

This from a man whose family history includes the holocaust. This man is willing to give what his family received. Isn't it amazing that "war criminals" are only labeled by winners.

[Paisano]

Connecticut must be very proud!

[prscnt1]

Or taking Jews to Holocaust!

holocaust
c.1250, "sacrifice by fire, burnt offering," from Gk. holokauston, neut. of holokaustos "burned whole," from holos "whole" (see safe (adj.)) + kaustos, verbal adj. of kaiein "to burn." Originally a Bible word for "burnt offerings," given wider sense of "massacre, destruction of a large number of persons" from 1833. The Holocaust "Nazi genocide of European Jews in World War II," first recorded 1957, earlier known in Heb. as Shoah "catastrop­he." The word itself was used in Eng. in ref. to Hitler's Jewish policies from 1942, but not as a proper name for them.

[WilliamGossett]

He has really changed over the years - a real metamorphisis.

He will soon convert to GOP.

He never would have won in 2006 if folks knew then what they know now...