Who was subjected to harsh interrogation techniques, including waterboarding?
Much of the current discussion swirls around three “high-value” al-Qaida operatives mentioned in the memos, in particular Abu Zubaydah and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the confessed planner of the Sept. 11 attacks. A Senate Intelligence Committee report cites CIA records showing the men were waterboarded in 2002 and 2003. The Justice Department had issued a memo in August 2002 ruling that the treatment did not break federal law because it did not constitute severe mental or physical pain. On his second day in office, Obama signed an executive order rescinding Bush administration approval to use the tactics. In his news conference Wednesday, Obama said, “I believe that waterboarding was torture. And I think that whatever legal rationales were used, it was a mistake.” Don’t some experts say the tactics were effective? Yes. Several high-ranking CIA and Bush administration officials, including George Tenet, Gen. Michael V. Hayden and Cheney, say the harsh methods expanded the government’s under
