McCain rejects role for torture

May 13, 2011|Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques were not a factor in tracking down Osama bin Laden, a leading Republican senator insisted yesterday.

Senator John McCain, who spent five years as a prisoner of war in North Vietnam, also rejected the argument that any form of torture is critical to US success in the fight against terrorism.

The Arizona Republican said Michael Mukasey, the former attorney general, and others who back those tactics were wrong to claim that waterboarding Al Qaeda’s number three leader, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, provided information that led to bin Laden’s compound in Pakistan.

McCain spoke with an unrivaled record on the issue.

He’s the top Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, the 2008 GOP presidential nominee who consistently challenged the Bush administration on the use of torture, and a man who endured brutal treatment during the Vietnam War.

In a statement, Mukasey said McCain “is simply incorrect’’ on the bid Laden leads and interrogation. Mukasey said Mohammed disclosed the nickname of the courier “along with a wealth of other information, some of which was used to stop terror plots then in progress.’’ He said another detainee, captured in Iraq, disclosed that the courier was a trusted operative of Mohammed’s successor.