Senators Say Mukasey's Words on Torture Raise Doubts

[journalist3072]

Source: Bloomberg via Yahoo News

Senators Say Mukasey's Words on Torture Raise Doubts

Lorraine Woellert
55 minutes ago

Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- Two Republican senators said Attorney General nominee Michael B. Mukasey's refusal to define so-called waterboarding as torture raised doubts about whether he should become the nation's top law enforcement official.

Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham criticized Mukasey for not ruling out use of waterboarding, which simulates drowning, by U.S. operatives during interrogations.

``Anyone who says they don't know if waterboarding is torture or not has no experience in the conduct of warfare and national security,'' McCain, a former prisoner of war in Vietnam who is seeking his party's presidential nomination, said on ABC's ``This Week'' program.

Graham, a former Air Force lawyer and a member the Judiciary Committee that is considering Mukasey's nomination, echoed McCain's remarks.




Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/bloomberg/20071028/pl_bloomberg/afhnzct4_vqu

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Looks like the road to confirmatin for Mukasey just got a little bit bumpier, and rightly so.

We must have an Attorney General not afraid to call torture by its name, and say this is not part of our values as Americans. And if cannot tell the American people whether or not they believe waterboarding is torture, they have no business leading the Department of Justice. It's as simple as that.

[tbyg52]

1. K&R

Sure sounds like he would give * a pass on the same things Gonzo did.

[karynnj]

2. John Kerry spoke to a MA newspaper

and his disgust that the guy can't define this as torture and recognize that it is wrong is obvious. The following article has a link a video at the very top of Kerry's comments on many issues to the editorial board. (The article itself is not about this.) The disturbing thing is Kerry's estimation that this might not be enough to derail him. It really is troubling that this, when Bush is so unpopular, may not be enough to rule him out. (Also interesting at the end is that Kerry refers to Blackwater as mercenaries.)

http://www.berkshireeagle.com/ci_7296419?source=most_viewed

[dickbearton]

3. So some Republicans think he might not be a good choice. Oh, really!

But the Criminal Bush, who chooses these corrupt individuals,
he's OK. These corrupt Republicans are not only criminal, they
are a pretty dense bunch. Corrupt, ignorant, and stupid; thy
name is Republican.