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I was listening to somebody on the radio yesterday who made a very interesting, and valid in my opinion, point:
America's relationship with waterboarding is about 100 years old. We used it in the Philippines in the Spanish American war. It was sometimes used in WWI and WWII. We courtmarshalled and convicted a soldier for doing it in Vietnam.
But throughout that entire history up until the Bush administration it was never questioned whether waterboarding is torture. It was accepted as fact that it was. What was discussed was whether it is ever appropriate to use torture. Teddy Roosevelt did not defend waterboarding by denying its nature, he defended it by saying it has a valid role.
You can disagree with that and argue about policy but the latter is an honest argument while the Bush administration's stance is a dodge, and a pretty stupid one at that.
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