Mukasey Interrogated over Waterboarding - Kroger

With the new buzz surrounding President Bush's nomination for Attorney General it seems that Judge Michael Mukasey is being tortured with questions surrounding his opinion on the legality of waterboarding.

At this point you might ask, "just what is waterboarding?"

Waterboarding is a torture device that employs either strapping a person down on their back and pouring water over their face, or dunking a person head first into water. This action induces the sensation of drowning and is considered an effective method of gaining information from a prisoner.

So why the sudden interest in a torture technique?

According to ABC news there is a "presidential finding, signed in 2002, by President Bush, Condoleezza Rice and then-Attorney General John Ashcroft approving the enhanced interrogation techniques, including water boarding" (ABCNews.go.com). Human rights activists began making noise about the practice and along with a death of a detainee, in 2006 the practice was explicitly banned (CNN.com).

Bush has admitted to the use of "alternative" interrogation methods against terrorists (CNN.com) and believes that the government has a responsibility to detain and question anyone that may be a terrorist with the intent of gaining information.

So what does Judge Mukasey say is the law's stance on the matter?

In a written response to Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee Judge Mukasey said that, "Hypotheticals are different from real life, and in any legal opinion the actual facts and circumstances are critical" (CNN.com).

This response has been consistent so far and has left Democrats without specific answer to their question, however Judge Mukasey did restate "his belief that the Constitution and federal law bar the president from ordering the use of torture" (CNN.com).

Here's the question for this week:

Should interrogation techniques for detainees be scrutinized? If yes, by whom?