Okay, here's what I don't get. Dick Cheney goes on a radio show and…well, here. Here's how The New York Times is reporting the matter…
The White House found itself fending off questions on Friday about what Vice President Dick Cheney meant when he agreed with a talk-radio host that there was nothing wrong with dunking a terrorism suspect in water if it saved lives.
Tony Snow, the White House spokesman, said Mr. Cheney was not endorsing water-boarding, a coercive interrogation technique that simulates drowning and that many have said qualifies as torture. Mr. Snow said Mr. Cheney was not, in fact, referring to any technique, whether it was torture or not, because administration officials do not discuss interrogation methods.
Maybe I'm dense here but the White House position seems to be as follows: Let's say there's a terrorism suspect. Let's say he has some information which we must have in order to save lives. So what do we do? We don't torture him. We dunk him in water in some manner that does not constitute torture and this gets him to spill his guts.
Pretty wimpy terrorists if you ask me. We put them in a dunk tank, seated on that little plank, and start lobbing softballs at the target. And they yell, "No, no! Don't get me wet! I'll tell you whatever you want to know!" Maybe all terrorists think they're witches or something.
If what we're doing to these people so terrifies them that they betray their cause, isn't it — almost by definition — "torture?"