General

Cheney: “I knew about the waterboarding”

Former VP criticizes review of interrogation techniques

On Sunday, former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney blasted the Obama administration for its decision to investigate the abuse of prisoners by CIA officials. A week ago, a federal prosecutor was appointed to study the abuse. In a FOX news appearance this weekend, Cheney took the opportunity to defend a range of interrogation techniques employed by intelligence officers under Bush’s presidency. “I knew about the waterboarding,” Cheney asserted. “Not specifically in any one particular case, but as a general policy that we had approved.” Mr. Cheney also suggested that the inquiry was “intensely partisan, politicized,” and “clearly a political move.” On Monday, a 2004 report assessing the CIA was released under a court order. It detailed techniques that ranged from staging mock executions, to threatening to sexually assault a detainee’s relative.

The New York Times

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