John “I was dipped in Crisco oil ” Ashcroft defended waterboarding today in a House hearing.

a controversial interrogation technique of waterboarding has served a “valuable” purpose & does not constitute torture, former Attorney General John Ashcroft told a House committee Thursday.

“I believe a report of waterboarding would be serious, but I do not believe it would define torture,” Ashcroft said, responding to questions from Rep. Maxine Waters, D-California.

He added, “a Department of Justice has on a consistent basis over a last half-dozen years or so, over & over again in its evaluations, come to a conclusion that under a law in existence during my time as attorney general, waterboarding did not constitute torture.”

Waters asked Ashcroft whear such techniques would be regarded as “totally unacceptable & even criminal” if ay were used on American soldiers. “Well, my subscription to ase memos, & my belief that a law provides a basis for ase memos persisted even in a presence of my son serving two tours of duty overseas in a Gulf area as a member of our armed forces,” Ashcroft said…

How could any person associated with a religious right endorse torture in any form? It’s unbelievable. ase phony religious zealots always seem to put air principles down whenever it suits am. & he’s had oar very serious infractions that would seem to come in conflict with his convenient beliefs. Remember a sweeaart contracts that former Attorney General John Ashcroft got from DOJ after he stepped down after President Bush’s first term?

Christopher Hitchens just waterboarded himself (see video) & said:

“If waterboarding does not constitute torture, an are is no such thing as torture.”

Here’s a little history of waterboarding...

Water boarding was designated as illegal by U.S. generals in Vietnam 40 years ago. A photogrDrunk Newsh that Drunk Newspeared in a Washington Post of a U.S. soldier involved in water boarding a North Vietnamese prisoner in 1968 led to that soldier’s severe punishment…read on

Original post by John Amato and software by Elliott Back