Torture

McCain Slams Waterboarding

Corrects those who credit it with bin Laden’s killing.

Senator John McCain is taking a stand against those who credit “enhanced interrogation” with the killing of Osama bin Laden. In an op-ed in The Washington Post, McCain calls out former attorney general Michael Mukasey for claiming that waterboarding of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed provided information leading to bin Laden. McCain writes that he spoke with CIA Director Leon Panetta and found that none of the detainees who were waterboarded provided important information leading to the courier who ultimately led the U.S. to bin Laden. The key facts were “obtained through standard, non-coercive means.” Later, McCain gave an impassioned speech before Congress, where he called on Mukasey to “correct his misstatement,” saying the debate over torture must be conducted without each side “making up its own facts.” McCain’s speech drew praise from several Democratic senators, including Harry Reid, who—referring to McCain’s experience in a Vietnam prison camp—said, "No one in the Senate could have given this speech.”