Senate Democrats accuse attorney general of ducking questions on waterboarding

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats accused Attorney General Michael Mukasey of ducking questions Wednesday on whether waterboarding is torture despite his promise last year to study whether it is illegal.\nThe issue briefly stalled Mukasey’s confirmation last fall until he assured Senate Democrats he would review the legality of the harsh interrogation tactic and report back\nWaterboarding involves strapping a person down and pouring water over his cloth-covered face to create the sensation of drowning.\nUltimately, however, Mukasey said Wednesday he would not rule on whether waterboarding is a form of illegal torture because it is not part of the current interrogation methods used by the CIA on terror suspects. Despite having called waterboarding personally repugnant, Mukasey’s non-answer angered Democrats who said the attorney general should be able to address a legal question.\n“I think failure to say something probably puts some of our people in more danger than not,” said Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., the Senate Judiciary Committee’s chairman.\n“It’s like you’re opposed to stealing, but not quite sure that bank robbery would qualify,” retorted Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass.\nMukasey, in his trademark monotone, did not appear rattled. He said he has concluded that current methods used by the CIA to interrogate terror suspects are lawful and that the spy agency is not using waterboarding on its prisoners.\nBeyond that, Mukasey said he would not discuss whether he thinks waterboarding is illegal.\n“Given that waterboarding is not part of the current program, and may never be added to the program, I do not think it would be appropriate for me to pass definitive judgment on the technique’s legality,” Mukasey said in his first appearance before the committee 0 since being sworn in Nov. 9.\nRepublican Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama rallied to Mukasey’s defense, calling it “an embarrassment” that the questioning could give the impression that U.S. interrogators frequently engage in waterboarding.\n“That is not true,” Sessions said.\nWaterboarding has happened in three known interrogations of al-Qaida members since 2001.\nAt his confirmation hearings in October, Mukasey refused to define waterboarding as torture because he was unfamiliar with the classified Justice Department memos describing the process and legal arguments surrounding it. He was willing to risk losing confirmation over his answer on waterboarding, according to a knowledgeable committee official who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.