McCain On Mohammed Waterboarding: 'It's Unacceptable...It's Unacceptable' (VIDEO)

Via ThinkProgress comes this video of John McCain on Fox News discussing the release of the torture memos. McCain makes it clear that he is not in favor of these memos having been released, telling Fox, "The release of these memos helps no one, doesn't help America's image, does not help us address the issue."

Note the contention he does NOT make, however. At no time does McCain suggest that the memos have tipped off the enemy, or any such nonsense. McCain's batting down a critical meme, here, continually pointing out that al Qaeda is cognizant of the torture practices and specifically exploiting them for their own ends. So while McCain can be frustrating in terms of prescribing a policy solution to end the practice of torture in a way that eliminates loopholes, he nevertheless remains one of the better advocates against the practice of torture itself.

Reacting to the news that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was waterboarded 183 times, McCain responds thusly:

It's unacceptable. It's unacceptable. One is too much. Waterboarding is torture, period. I can ensure you that once enough physical pain is inflicted on someone, they will tell that interrogator whatever they think they want to hear. And most importantly, it serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us. And I've seen concrete examples of that talking to former high-ranking al-Qaeda individuals in Iraq.

Asked to respond to reports from pro-torture officials who claim the practice yielded good intelligence, McCain didn't budge:

According to the FBI, they did not. According to the CIA, they did. With all due respect, my view is, whether they did or not, the image of the United States of America throughout the world is a recruiting tool for Islamic extremists. And I got that from a former high-ranking al Qaeda in Iraq.

[WATCH.]

MORE:
McCain Reacts To KSM Being Waterboarded 183 Times: 'One Is Too Much. Waterboarding Is Torture' [Think Progress]

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Comments

[TheDarkAngel]

Trust me, McCain knows a thing or two about torture. He was tortured during his 5 and a half year imprisonment at the Hanoi "Hilton". And I, personally, dare any draft-dodging conservative to call him out for telling the truth.

[shainalitala]

I find this heartening. Just when I think every Republican leader alive has lost any symbolism of an idea of the creed in which our country is grounded, John McCain shows that some of them still have an idea of what makes America great. Torture is unAmerican and those who implemented and crafted torture policies should be brought to justice.

[rcrussell]

Well said.

[SharpDressedMan]

That's the John McCain I knew before and after the presidential campaign in 2008. What happened to him during the campaign was a political travesty but we are better off with President Obama.

Now will the FoxNews and talk radio mouthpieces who haven't even worn a military uniform for a day in the lives stop deciding which military policies are good for us?

[fayee21]

Thank you John McCain, one of the few of us who is really an authority on the subject.

[ReesieKitty]

Wow, John McCain, I almost have a modicum of respect for you again. At least you don't seem afraid of Limbaugh, Gingrech, Noonan and their ilk. And, as the only one of the group who has ever BEEN tortured, you would think McCain's voice would carry at least a little weight here.

[ctbythec]

Many of you have got it wrong. Waterboarding is torture. I am a filmmaker and in my film, "Profile" we actually did have a scene where the main actress was waterboarded. it was done with every detail being about her safety and she still went into distress. It is a very scary, horrible and torturous form of dealing with a person. I don't think that it is as bad as what happens to Americans who are captured by Islamic Extremists, but I also don't think that Rush Limbaugh would survive what we did to our actress. It is all about the particular person as to whether it is lethal or not. Eating lobster would kill me, so that could be a form of torture to tell me that there was lobster in my food. Think about it.

[bobbybo]

The part that I cannot understand is how telling the truth about this is going to hurt us. The world knows and knew that the Bush/Cheney's were torturing prisoners and having their proxies torturing for them. It seems to me that the only way that we will regain the moral high ground is to come clean and to prosecute the Liberty University Lawyers who opined that torture was legal.

[UrbanInterloper]

As a nation, we have to come to terms with the fact that Bush's decision to torture people like KSM so extensively and repeatedly means that we'll never know who was really responsible for what in planning the September 11 attacks. KSM confessed to everything but causing the Enron scandal and the Kennedy assassination. Bush's decision to use torture is equivalent to destroying evidence; it makes justice for the criminals of 9/11 impossible. As someone who lived in New York at that time, this is like a stab in the heart.

[fedup1111]

Right or wrong they deserved the torture, revenge, or whatever you want to call it.

[oregonideas]

aw sweet revenge...­.at least you're honest about it. the Bush administration "John Bauer" mindset attempted to justify torture as needed and effective.­..all reports and studies (except self-serving anecdotal accounts..­.unverifie­d, by the way) document that it is both unnecessary and ineffective.

some of the cruelest and most awful acts of mankind have been the result of revenge and, of course, revenge breeds revenge which breeds revenge etc. but, I do appreciate your honesty

[orwell2112]

Sept. 11 mastermind was waterboarded 183 times to remove head lice, say former Bush administration officials

http://wineandexcrement.com/sept-11-mastermind-was-waterboarded-183-times-in-delousing-effort-say-former-bush-administration-officials/1270/

WASHINGTON – Responding to Justice Department memos declassified by the Obama administration last week, former Bush administration officials claim that CIA agents who repeatedly waterboarded Sept. 11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed were not bent on torture but simply treating a raging case of head lice and dandruff ...

[citizensrus]

183 times is not a coincidental number. This was an act of revenge, not an "interrogation".

[Dee AZ]

Agree. After being waterboarded ~6 times per day, it doesn't take a genius to figure out that if you're not getting any worthwhile information after the first few days with this approach, using this same procedure for a longer period of time, like a month, is not going to make a big difference.

It indicates the interrogators begain letting their methods betray their goals. IMO the Bush Admin viewed these 'enhanced interrogation techniques' as a way to get revenge for the loss of life that occurred on 9/11.

[theDLF]

To all the politicians, obese radio talk show hosts and regular people who complain that waterboarding is not torture, I ask them to submit to it: undergo a bit of waterboarding yourselves. Author and journalist Christopher Hitchens did and it completely changed his mind about the practice.

[2008FedUP]

What about the "torture" we endured with his campaign trail "rallies"?

[TheDarkAngel]

Mostly Palin's fault. Remember, McCain spent a considerable amount of time cleaning up her mess, along with the "he has an evil middle name" nuts that, at the same time, he needed to support him if he was gonna win. He was between a rock and a hard place: he won the nomination 'cause he was the least Bush-like and before it was over, he was practically perceived as worse.

[moUSAnMe]

McCain has always been against torture. I'm sure he didn't like what Ru$hbutt said on his behalf. This is the one thing I can agree with him on.
That said, I'm glad POTUS released memos.

[lungfish]

As if we haven't sent hundreds of detainees back to Iraq with all the information on what we did to them..... what a load of nonsense..­..