Torture

The McCain Conundrum

Senator McCain today on KSM being waterboarded 183 times in a month:

One is too much. Waterboarding is torture, period. I can ensure you that once enough physical pain is inflicted on someone, they will tell that interrogator whatever they think they want to hear.

This is an important statement, especially coming from a man who was mercilessly tortured by the North Vietnamese. But why, then, did Senator McCain vote against banning the CIA from using these techniques?

Yes, he voted to ban military torture. But he voted in favor of allowing the CIA to continue torturing at will -- the very agency authorized by the OLC memos.