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Rove: 'I'm Proud' The Bush Admin Used Waterboarding

Jillian Rayfield | March 12, 2010, 2:36PM

Karl Rove

Dick Cheney, George W. Bush, Karl Rove, Torture

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Former Bush Adviser Karl Rove says he's "proud" the Bush administration used techniques like waterboarding "that broke the will of these terrorists, and gave us valuable information that allowed us to foil plots."

In an interview with the BBC, Rove was asked about the Bush administration's interrogation techniques, and whether he is "proud" of its use of waterboarding.

"I'm proud that we kept the world safer," he replied. These techniques are "appropriate, they're in conformity with our international requirements and with U.S. law."

When asked about the fact that waterboarding is torture, Rove scoffed: "No, it's not. People need to read the memos that outline what was permissible and not permissible."

Rove also respondedto a recent comment by former MI-5 Chief Dame Eliza Manningham-Buller that top Bush administration officials watched and took cues from Fox's 24, which frequently shows protagonist Jack Bauer using torture to acquire information.

"That's laughable," said Rove, who then explained that President Bush and Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld rarely watched TV.

About Vice President Dick Cheney, on the other hand, Rove's answer was not quite as definitive:

"While Vice President Cheney was a fan of 24, he's fully capable of distinguishing between fact and fiction."

Video can be seen here.

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Msinformed

March 12, 2010 2:56 PM

That "ham-head" is so articulate!

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tiowally

March 12, 2010 3:14 PM

How many admissions of torture are needed before prosecutions take place? Paging Eric "Place" Holder.

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susanthe

March 12, 2010 3:32 PM

So, you'll submit to waterboarding, Karl - to prove to us pinko sissies that it's a perfectly acceptable mode of interrogatioin?

I didn't think so.

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CityGuy

March 12, 2010 5:52 PM

It's clear that the US won't investigate these criminals. Why doesn't a foreign government open up a war crimes inquiry at The Hague? That way, the the US can honestly say that they have no hand in the matter. Just wondering.

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nova voter

March 12, 2010 7:14 PM

wow

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bill

March 13, 2010 1:23 PM

Waterboarding, sleep depravation and strappado are long-established methods, the continued use and refinement of which one must be rightly proud.

While to date we have no record of the Bush/Cheney White House using stivaletto, piene forte or the rack (as the records are still closed to the public), we may some day find these methods, too, were among the many traditions of which Karl has been so proud to uphold.

Too, we may learn of new torture techniques practiced by Mr Rove's heroes. As the medical profession continues to advance in all areas of practice, we would expect Bush / Cheney to build on the new technologies - yet another source of pride for Mr Rove might be 'pushing the torture art to new bounds'.

In the time of Pope Innocent and later torturers, the subjects 'confessed' to crimes such as witchcraft, consorting with the devil, flying on broomsticks and morphing into black cats; the confessions serving as 'proof' that those things did indeed occur, thereby, validating the original accusations.

Such was the case in the time of Bush and Cheney, with detainees confessing to all manner of activities; thereby, proving that the original accusations were correct !

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we r all husseins

March 13, 2010 3:07 PM in reply to bill

"confessing to all manner of activities; thereby, proving that the original accusations were correct !"

I hope your post is sarcasm. Real studies have shown that, under torture, a subject will "confess" to anything they are accused of in order to make the torture stop. It doesn't prove the accusation is valid.

For example, I could, under torture, confess to hurling the Chixculub asteroid at the Earth and wiping out the dinosaurs. Doesn't mean it actually happened.

The only real "terror plot" that occurred during the Bush-Cheney debacle was the one they allowed to happen: September 11th, 2001.

To Cityguy: I would love to see the whole Bush Administration on the docket in the Hague, but The International Criminal Court is powerless to act since the US didn't sign on to participate. Guess who's responsible for that? Yep, George Bush. I'm going to guess the two things are related.

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kiva

March 13, 2010 2:53 PM

I listened to this interview and he was rude, disrespectful and tried to bully the BBC reporter. What an unbelievable prick.

I hope he goes down in the history books as one of the people most instrumental in ruining the political climate in our country. What a sick human being.

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Impishparrot

March 13, 2010 3:02 PM

According to the BBC, the chickenshit chickenhawk was interviewed in New York City, not the UK or the EU. Had his ass actually been in the UK, he likely would have been arrested on the spot as a war criminal.

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