Torture

Should waterboarding, an interrogation procedure that gives the sensation of drowning, or torture be used on suspected terrorists?

Clinton says no. From a letter by Clinton to President Bush: "I write you today to urge you to stand for American values and remove your threat to veto the FY 2008 Intelligence Authorization Bill (H.R. 2082). I urge you to support the humane and effective standards for interrogation adopted by the U.S. Army; to reverse your opposition to applying these standards to the intelligence agencies, including the CIA and private contractors; and to unequivocally oppose practices like waterboarding, which are immoral, illegal, ineffective, and un-American." (link)

McCain says no. McCain quoted by the International Herald Tribune: "We always supported allowing the CIA to use extra measures. I believe waterboarding is illegal and should be banned." (link)

Obama says no. Remarks by Obama during a speech in the U.S. Senate: "Tragically, the Bush administration has too often chosen to respond to this enemy by abandoning our values and ignoring laws that it deems inconvenient. So we have seen excessive secrecy, indefinite detention, warrantless wire-tapping, and `enhanced interrogation techniques' like simulated drowning that qualify as torture through any careful measure of the law or appeal to human decency. For each of these new policies, we have seen dubious legal reasoning that does not stand up to the harsh light of review or the sound judgment of our Constitution." (link)

Paul says no. Remarks by Paul during a speech in the U.S. House of Representatives: "If we're willing to consider a different foreign policy, we should ask ourselves a few questions... What if the Pentagon's legal task-force opinion that the President is not bound by international or federal law regarding torture stands unchallenged, and sets a precedent which ultimately harms Americans, while totally disregarding the moral, practical, and legal arguments against such a policy?" (link)