Waterboarding is a form of torturous interrogation used by the Central Intelligence Agency from 2002-2005. A recent report has surfaced about the interrogation of Abu Zubaydah who was, according to American authorities, a high-ranking member of al-Qaida and close associate of Osama bin Laden" (Wikipedia/Zubaydah).
It has been brought to light that the then national security advisor Condoleezza Rice, gave permission to the CIA to use waterboarding techniques in their handling of the prisoner. This information is contrary to what she alluded to, attending meetings where the CIA interrogation request was discussed, in autumn of 2008 (MacAskill, Bates). The Senate intelligence committee, however, points to Rice as the approver of Zubaydah's waterboarding. The administration, despite pressure from their lawyers, "continued to validate the program, but the CIA voluntarily dropped [it] after 2005" (MacAskil, Bates).
Waterboarding is a controversial topic, for obvious reasons. The forcing of water down the breathing passages of a human being is extremely degrading and may even qualify as cruel and unusual punishment, an action expressly forbidden in the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Thus, the immediate questions follow. Is such a procedure moral? Is it necessary?
These two questions are different from each other and even require different approaches upon answering. I do believe that such actions are immoral and quite possibly even unconstitutional. However, they may be just as necessary as they are immoral. The intersection between these conflicting characteristics becomes dangerous.
As a country founded upon human rights, it is wrong and hypocritical to condone excessively cruel methods of interrogation. Human rights' vanishing point lies in the diminishing of human dignity, an explicit result of torture. Senator John McCain replied to waterboarding by saying, "Waterboarding is torture, period. I can ensure you that once enough physical pain is inflicted...they will tell that interrogator whatever they think they want to hear. And most importantly, it serves as a great propaganda tool for those who recruit people to fight against us" (Shakir).
McCain is right, it is torture and as the CIA certainly knows, torture works. However, there is a limit. In times of great crisis and 'ticking time-bomb' situations, the government should be able to do whatever necessary to protect the common good. Again, I express necessary. Such harsh treatment of prisoners not only 'serves as propaganda' for the enemy, as McCain said, but is also morally compromising to the position the United States has assumed in the world.
If the United States of America wants to be a world leader, they must promote human rights to the rest of the world. The fact that the CIA, after having all the permission needed from the administration, voluntarily cut waterboarding in 2005 proves it was unnecessary. The CIA is our intelligence agency for a reason and if they feel it is unnecessary, it is.
Waterboarding should be used only in extreme cases in which the common good of the American people is thought to outweigh the possible ramifications to the interrogated. We must limit our use of waterboarding, not eliminate waterboarding itself. If we eliminate it, we will not have it when necessary. Additionally, if waterboarding is illegal then where does that place our other harsh techniques? Where does the line get drawn?
The administration made waterboarding more than a possibility, they made it a standard and for that, they should be questioned. The Bush administration knew what they were doing could have been unconstitutional and instead of investigating their actions to serve and protect the American framework, they ignored warnings and pushed aside the opposition. They were obviously concerned only with serving themselves, not the American people.
-Works Cited-
MacAskill, Ewen and Stephen Bates. Rice gave early approval for CIA waterboarding, Senate report reveals: guardian.co.uk. 23 April 2009. 23 April 2009 <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/apr/23/condolee zza-rice-cia-waterboarding>.
Shakir, Faiz. McCain Reacts To KSM Being Waterboarded 183 Times: 'One Is Too Much. Waterboarding Is Torture': Think Progress. 20 April 2009. 23 April 2009 <http://thinkprogress.org/2009/04/20/mccain-ksm-183/>.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Abu Zubaydah: Wikipedia. 23 April 2009. 23 April 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abu_Zubaydah>.
Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. Waterboarding: Wikipedia. 23 April 2009. 23 April 2009 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterboarding>.