Cheney is ready to drown suspects

US Vice President Richard Cheney said he would “not hesitate” to submerge the suspect if it would help save the lives of others. “It’s not a problem for me, but if I did that, I would be accused of being addicted to torture,” said the American vice president. “True, we don’t torture. As for the CIA program to interrogate certain terrorism suspects, I think it is important for America. It allows us to obtain important intelligence and prevent repeated terrorist attacks on the United States,” Cheney tried to justify himself when his statement received scandalous publicity.

White House press secretary Tony Snow said Cheney was misunderstood. According to him, the vice president was not referring to the torture of prisoners by “drinking water,” or, as it is also called, “the font,” but rather by “plunging the face of a bound interrogated person into a container of water so that he would have the impression that he is drowning.” " However, Snow emphasized, “no administration official can speak publicly about the details of the methods used during interrogations, since this information is classified.”

The United States does not torture and only interrogates prisoners, President George W. Bush said Friday. “There is no torture in this country. "We will interrogate prisoners of war captured on the battlefield to determine whether they have information that would be useful to us in protecting America's security," Bush said. He did not react in any way to Cheney's statements, which sounded like a justification for torture in exceptional cases.

According to the executive director of the American section of Amnesty International, Larry Cox, Cheney's “reservation” shows the true attitude of the current US administration to forceful interrogation of suspects. On October 17, the US President signed a law requiring military personnel to treat prisoners humanely. Opponents of the new law say its language is so vague that it leaves room for the Bush administration to interpret it as it wishes. In the meantime, the US CIA will be able to continue conducting forceful interrogations, since the law does not apply to employees of this agency.

According to a recent public opinion poll conducted by the BBC in conjunction with the Interpol research institute, 59% of the world's inhabitants oppose torture, even when it comes to terrorists whose information could save thousands of lives. However, 29% of survey participants believe that the government has the right to use torture to fight terrorism.

Victor VOLODIN