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    Republican Pair Would Bring Back Waterboarding

    US Republican presidential hopefuls Herman Cain and Michele Bachmann have both said they would reinstate the waterboarding interrogation technique if elected.

    Businessman Mr Cain said he does not support torture but would bring back the controversial practice, where captives experience the sensation of drowning, because he sees it as "enhanced interrogation".

    George W Bush's administration argued using it saved lives as it led to valuable information being gleaned about terror attacks.

    Mr Bush confirmed he had authorised its use to extract information from Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the al Qaeda mastermind behind the 9/11 atrocity.

    However, Barack Obama banned the technique when he was elected to the White House.

    Mr Cain said he would leave it up to military leaders, rather than their civilian superiors, to decide what forms of interrogation amounted to torture.

    Minnesota congresswoman Mrs Bachmann also said she would be willing to allow waterboarding if elected president, calling the practice "very effective".

    "It gained information for our country," she added.

    But the other Republican contenders are split over whether waterboarding would be an effective tool.

    Ex-Utah governor Jon Huntsman said the technique diminished America's standing in the world and undermined the nation's values.

    Texas congressman Ron Paul said it was illegal.

    Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney was not directly asked about the issue but stated he would use whatever means necessary to protect America.

    The candidates were questioned on foreign policy during a debate in South Carolina, which revealed deep differences between them.

    They roundly accused Mr Obama of being too soft with America's enemies, but over how to effectively project American strength and protect the homeland they were often at odds.

    On Iran, the candidates argued about how to discourage the regime in Tehran from carrying out alleged plans to develop a nuclear weapon.

    Former house speaker Newt Gingrich said if all other steps failed, "you have to take whatever steps are necessary" to prevent that outcome.

    He said the approach should include covertly "taking out their scientists" and "breaking up their systems".

    Mr Romney said Iran would obtain a nuclear weapon if Mr Obama was re-elected. 

    "And if you elect Mitt Romney, Iran will not have a nuclear weapon," he said.

    Mr Cain said Mr Obama has been on the wrong side of nearly every situation in the Arab world and the US mishandled the uprisings in the region.

     

    433 comments

    • Steve  •  6 months ago
      I wish George Orwell was alive today to see the phrase "Enhanced Interrogation."
      • lloyd 6 months ago
        Exactly what I was thinking! Newspeak is growing all around us.
      • Anna J 6 months ago
        Absolutely - what a travesty of a euphemism!
      • Hon 6 months ago
        What would 'Enhanced Interrogation' be in Newspeak?

        Eninterro?

        A foreign power applying it to a US citizen, it means torture. The US applying it on suspected terrorists, it means an enhanced form of interrogation.

        Is doublethink at work here?
    • Edmond Dantès  •  6 months ago
      I can see that US presidential hopefuls are doing a sterling job assisting fu$%ing Al Qaeda in filling its recruitment quota for this quarter.
      • Dark Avenger 6 months ago
        Don't you get it... there's no such thing as Al-qaida. It's all a CIA creation. All "Islamic" groups are, one or another, puppets of the CIA. Some of them just don't know it. Just like the "uprising" in Lybia and Syria... all advocatted by the CIA and Mossad. Isn't all too convenient that the US and the west are only supporting those uprisings that are taking place in those countries who are hostile to US and Israel. Where's the No Fly Zone for Bahraini protesters and those in Yemen.
      • BK. 6 months ago
        genus Ed. right on the point.
      • Yoyo 6 months ago
        @dark avenger...conspiracy theorist much.
    • Dr Sardonicus  •  6 months ago
      If I'm elected I'll would like to introduce water boarding to be used on those lying politicians who told us that there were WMDs in Iraq, just so that they could start an illegal war and get their hands on cheap oil. Ring any bells, Tony, George W, Donald, #$%$ etc?
      • Jdenton 6 months ago
        Actually...........there were quite a few predecessors to the WMD stories and that included the opposition in the US and assorted gov'ts around the world. Cheap oil as a reason? One of the biggest lies from the left.
      • Bert Nodules 6 months ago
        Cheap oil. Are you joking. Have you actually looked at the price of oil since all this war in the middle east started. It won't go back down now either as China (the biggest economy in the world) and India (coming up fast) are getting cars so more demand means higher prices.
      • Ivan 6 months ago
        Everyone thought there were WMD's in Iraq, because the idiot Iraqi's kept telling us so.
    • RAY D  •  6 months ago
      If its that effective, lets use it at PM question time
      • Donald Grant 6 months ago
        Thats a bloody brilliant idea I second that emotion........ and passed.
      • two_cents_worth 6 months ago
        Clegg is definitely a bit of a wet blanket. And I bet he would LOVE to smother Cameron!
      • osama.bin_obama 6 months ago
        Can a wet blanket smother a p'ish talker ??? It would be mighty interesting.
    • Truth  •  6 months ago
      MrCain so are you thinking Mr Obama is a Muslim and is biased ? I would like to know your opinions on Africa ??
      • two_cents_worth 6 months ago
        Hi "Truth", Herman Cain here. Thanks so much for your question and I will be glad to answer it. First though, could I just clarify something? What's "Africa"?
      • two_cents_worth 6 months ago
        Hi "Two Cent's Worth", Herman Cain here. I've red thumbed you because I do not like to be impersonated by jumped-up lefty liberal scumsucking cleverclogs like you. Is that sufficient clarification for you? Incidentally, what kind of a backwards country uses currency called the "cent"?
      • oolloo 6 months ago
        Africa is a big fun house,without any fun.
    • Rose  •  6 months ago
      Cain and Bachmann are living proof of why God in America found it necessary to replace laces with Velcro on trainers
    • its gone very odd yahoo  •  6 months ago
      Mrs Bachmann saying torture is effective does she think them thousands of women tortured to prove they were witches were indeed witches after all when everyone else today sees that episode in American and European history as a dark time and proved that people when tortured would admit to anything to stop the torture.
    • G  •  6 months ago
      Waterboarding is torture and the Yanks have been found guilty of torturing people . They have also been foung guilty of other means of degrading torture and these mens of torture have been instigated against innocents that lived in this country. The United States is a cruel nation that executes innocent folk and is deply racist. You cannot posibly justify torture carried out by a nation that believes itself above international law and that is evidenced by their actions and the rabid comments by redneck idiots. Yes i do agree that terrorists should be treated harshly because they are beyond the pale but it seems that the Yanks are a cruel bunch and they break international law consistently in their justification of fighting terrorism. All of the terrorists that flew the aircraft into the twin towers and the pentagon and attempted to fly into the other important building were residents of their own nation and their security was laughable . Now everyone that hopes to come to their land has to be subjected to a ritual of fingerprinting and iris scanning as if everyone is a criminal. This data is then held on the database of the F.B.I. so why arent migrants and tourists from their land subjected to the same digital scrutiny when they come here ? I have always mistrusted the so called "special relationship" with a nation that had plans to go to war with us right up until the spring of 1939 and i will always look at them with a level of mistrust and a deal of reservation because they have always thought of themselves to be above international law.
    • wicki  •  6 months ago
      Once the state sanctions torture and leaving it up to the military to decide you are on a slippery slope to a military state like the ones that failed in south America killing huge numbers of their own people.
    • Charles  •  6 months ago
      Why not adopt it as an Olympic sport and trial it with the lying, corrupt, hypocritcal illegitimate people who inhabit the Houses of Parliament.
    • howard  •  6 months ago
      Enhanced interrogation? It's TORTURE PURE AND SIMPLE. The attitude towards treaties such as the Geneva Conventions on the part of these demagogues is truly chilling. Along with the other euphamisms we've all become too familiar with, such as 'special rendition' for kidnapping, and 'collateral damage' for incidental mass murder, shows even these people to be so ashamed of the TRUE meaning of their criminality that they feel the need to dress it up rather than say what they, and everyone else, knows they actually mean. I look forward to karma biting them, and all of their despicable ilk hard on their 'sitting down surfaces'.
    • Ronald  •  6 months ago
      America.....you create your own demons by your actions. You are a nation of nutcases.
    • .  •  6 months ago
      This is a demonstration, - if any were really NEEDED, that America is utterly doomed. Their politicians are uninformed and witless when it comes to dealing with the outside world. They think the real world is a cross between a computer game and Hollywood. It's so dumb and sad, it's pathetic. They are living in a complete fantasy world....! I can only read this stuff with amazement and utter incredulity......!!!!!
    • R.P. Murphy  •  6 months ago
      Michele Bachmann, is no better than a Nazi. She uses heavy handed security guards to intimidate journalists that may ask difficult questions or try to put her in a bad light.
      So it is no wonder she would advocate the use of something that is basically torture.
      If she ever became president, you could guarantee that we would be heading towards more wars.
      And for those who think torture is okay to use because the enemy uses terrible tactics. Then I say, you do not win hearts and minds with brutal tactics. Either we want to earn peace or we want to stay in never ending wars of ideology and culture.
    • Deejay Patel  •  6 months ago
      and that's probably for use on US Citizens too... be warned.. camp USA is coming!
    • Jonathan  •  6 months ago
      "the sensation of drowning"
      I hate the media saying things like that. It is NOT a sensation; it IS drowning in a controlled environment.
    • overtaxed for life  •  6 months ago
      I would love to know why Americans are so aggressive.
      Life seems to mean little to them, except their own, and just the slightest thing gets them into a war scenario.
      They seem to me to be the most likely to cause any future global war.
    • Oor Wullie  •  6 months ago
      Does this now mean that extradition to the US should now be banned as they are torturers?
    • kez  •  6 months ago
      I thought we 'liberated' Libya because so called 'mad dog' gadaffi was 'allegedly' torturing terrorists.
    • Bert Nodules  •  6 months ago
      Why is America concerned about Iran having a nuclear weapon? They don't seem worried that Israel has one already. I thought, if both sides have them, they ensure no war takes place. It's like the mythical WMDs in Iraq, no-one cared that they had no way to deliver these weapons. A nuclear bomb is no good unless you can deliver it.