Army Reiterates That Waterboarding Is Torture Since Mukasey Won't

Posted by Satyam Khanna, Think Progress at 2:00 PM on November 13, 2007.

Satyam Khanna: The Army wants to “eliminate any confusion that may have arisen as a result of recent public discourse on the subject.”

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This post, written by Satyam Khanna, originally appeared on Think Progress

On Nov. 9, the Senate voted to confirm Michael Mukasey as Attorney General, despite concerns about his consistent refusal to declare waterboarding torture.

The AP reports today that three days earlier, on Nov. 6, the Army issued a memo to "senior leaders" reiterating that the technique is prohibited by the Army. The memo was to be relayed to soldiers' families and employees in order to "eliminate any confusion that may have arisen as a result of recent public discourse on the subject":

The service issued a "strategic communication hot topic" alert to its senior leaders two days before the Senate confirmed Mukasey, asking them to make sure every soldier, family member and Army civilian employee understands the ban on waterboarding. Mukasey was sworn in Nov. 9.

"The U.S. Army strictly prohibits the use of waterboarding during intelligence investigations by any of its members. It is specifically prohibited by Field Manual 2-22.3 and is not a sanctioned interrogation technique in any training manual or any instructions to soldiers in the field," the statement says.

The Army Field Manual specifically prohibits "waterboarding" in intelligence interrogations, along with "mock executions," "using military working dogs," and "inducing hypothermia or heat injury." The CIA reportedly used waterboarding on three different prisoners before 2003.

Several former administration officials have attempted to eliminate or condemn the use of waterboarding. Inspector General John Helgerson quit in protest of the administration's torture policies. Former acting assistant attorney general Daniel Levin was forced out by the Justice Department for his dissent on waterboarding.

Last week, Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) and Rep. William Delahunt (D-MA) introduced legislation requiring "that interrogations comply with the standards set forth in the Army Field Manual, to all government agencies."

Tagged as: waterboarding, torture, army, mukasey

Satyam Khanna is a Research Associate for The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.org at the Center for American Progress.

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Water, Water Everywhere -- And Not A Dolt To Think [Report this comment] Posted by: QQOblivion on Nov 13, 2007 2:54 PM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] First, let me say, water-boarding is far from the worst treatment the US has carried out on "war on terror" detainees. Yes, water-boarding is torture, but so is most else that the US has done to detainees that crosses a moral line. I wish there was more focus on the even worse forms of abuse committed in our name. Second, Nadler's and Delahunt's proposed legislation is a no-brainer. But let me guess -- it will JUST fail to garner enough votes to override a presidential veto. And on the off-chance it does pass by an overwhelming margin, then President Bush will just use a signing statement to void it. Of course, in the mean time, Republicans can just threaten a filibuster. Or the Democrats will be afraid, so afraid, of looking "weak on terror", and will not move the legislation forward. Call me a pessimist, but I think I am quite the realist, actually. I may even be an optimist. I have been let down SO MANY times by my government in the last 7 years. I will be ABSOLUTELY SHOCKED if the CIA, or any other super-secret agency that may be practicing torture, will be made to follow ANY guidelines EVER. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] » RE: Water, Water Everywhere -- And Not A Dolt To Think Posted by: surfreality How about [Report this comment] Posted by: chaoslegs on Nov 14, 2007 8:18 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] if the annoucement to service members included language like. If the intelligence community wants to risk war crimes prosecution and continue to use waterboarding that is their business. It will not be tolerated in the military, will be punished, and you do risk war crime prosecution outside the military justice system. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] Turning On The Light [Report this comment] Posted by: the islander on Nov 14, 2007 8:54 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] It is good news to hear that the military is clear on waterboarding. It is bad news indeed that our new Attorney General is incapable of throwing any light on the subject at all. What's even more terrible is that Chuck Sdhumer and Diane Feinstein are just fine with that. [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5] I'm sure this will be a great comfort to victims [Report this comment] Posted by: Ian MacLeod on Nov 15, 2007 2:14 AM Current rating: 5 [1 = poor; 5 = excellent] when they get waterboarded by the CIA, or Blackwater, or the NSA, or by someone else. And these "moral" IDIOTS quitting only makes room for someone who will comply with the illegal orders to be appointed in their places. At this point, even if the entire US military refused to deploy as ordered, unless they also took out Blackwater and arrested the lawbreakers in the White House, the Pentagon, etc, nothing is about to change. So nothing will change. Ian [« Reply to this comment] [Post a new comment »] [Rate this comment: 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5]

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