Bush: 'This country doesn't torture'

Published: Oct. 27, 2006 at 12:50 PM

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.

© 2006 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Order reprints



Additional News Stories
Federer assures No. 1 status with ATP win (16 min)
Real Alice's 'Looking Glass' to be sold (28 min)
Report: N.D. quarterback got in bar fight (42 min)
Deer stunned by Toronto police (48 min)
Grain futures mixed Tuesday
Poll: Women ignoring new mammogram advice
Toyota Tundra pickup trucks recalled
fark
Having already unlocked the achievement for weirdest nation in the world, Japan goes for the bonus...
Train Man
Not news: Babysitter goes drunk driving. News: He had a seven year with him. FARK: The kid was on...
Celebrated trial lawyer died driving unsafe and uncrashworthy SUV on negligently designed and maintained...
Even the judge agrees there's nothing wrong with a little tongue
That Kentucky census worker undressed himself, wrote "fed" on his chest, bound himself in duct tape...