Challenging Obama on torture might be Mitt's debate surprise
Will Mitt run on torture?
His advisers want him to bring waterboarding back. Challenging Obama on torture might be his debate surprise
BY ALEX PAREENE
It seems likely that a President Mitt Romney would rescind the executive order issued by President Barack Obama outlawing torture. His own policy advisers have told him to do so, according to a memo obtained by the New York Times. (Mitt Romney’s advisers are doing everything they can to encourage the liberal debate over the morality of supporting Obama in the face of his miserable civil liberties record.)
The memo was drafted last year by the Romney campaign’s “national security law subcommittee,” which is made up of 18 lawyers, 15 of whom are George W. Bush administration veterans. The lawyers call on Romney to “rescind and replace” the executive order banning torture and once again allow “enhanced interrogation techniques.” The lawyers also recommend that Romney first make a show of ordering a “review” of torture policy to help make the candidate look “open-minded and empirically driven.” (Jesus Christ.)
Romney’s been pretty consistently — but very vaguely — pro-torture. Like many other Republicans, he believes that America should torture but not admit that the techniques it uses to “interrogate” prisoners count as torture. Romney does not consider waterboarding torture. But he believes in vagueness above all else, as you can see in this exchange between Romney and torture survivor John McCain in 2007:
Romney’s vagueness when directly asked about torture is understandable — he won’t even go into details on tax policy — but Conor Friedersdorf would like to see him nailed down on the issue, perhaps even by debate moderator Jim Lehrer.
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http://www.salon.com/2012/10/01/will_mitt_run_on_torture/
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