Bush: 'This country doesn't torture'

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- President Bush Friday denied the United States employs torture, but he said people picked up off the battlefield will be questioned.

Following an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Bush was asked whether he considers "waterboarding" -- dunking a detainee in water -- a "no brainer" when it comes to terror suspects.

"This country doesn't torture, we're not going to torture," Bush said. "We will interrogate people we pick up off the battlefield to determine whether or not they've got information that will be helpful to protect the country."

The issue came up after Vice President Dick Cheney told a conservative radio host "waterboarding" terror suspects is "a no-brainer for me."

U.S. terror interrogation techniques have been roundly criticized by human rights organizations and led to legislation spelling out what interrogators can do.