Damned liberals misinterpret everything.
WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House said Friday that Vice President Dick Cheney was not talking about a torture technique known as “water boarding” when he said dunking terrorism suspects in water during questioning was a “no-brainer.”
Human rights groups complained that Cheney’s comments amounted to an endorsement of water boarding, in which the victim believes he is about to drown.
President Bush, asked about Cheney’s comments, said, “This country doesn’t torture. We’re not going to torture.” He spoke at an Oval Office meeting Friday with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Earlier, White House press secretary Tony Snow denied that Cheney had endorsed water boarding.
“You know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will,” Snow said. “You think Dick Cheney’s going to slip up on something like this? No, come on.”
In an interview Tuesday with WDAY of Fargo, North Dakota, Cheney was asked if “a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives.”
The vice president replied, “Well, it’s a no-brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the vice president for torture. We don’t torture. That’s not what we’re involved in.”