Silke Jasso
On Wednesday, President Donald Trump made it clear that he’s open to reinstating enhanced methods of interrogation, saying that torture “absolutely” works. Fellow Republican Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) says otherwise.
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“We’re not playing on an even field,” the president said during an interview with ABC. “I want to do everything within the bounds of what you’re allowed to do legally. But do I feel it works? Absolutely, I feel it works.”
While speaking with CNN, Paul told Jake Tapper that some studies show that 22 percent of those detained and tortured aren’t even the right suspects.
“So, yeah, I think there’s a problem, one whether it works or not, but two if we get the wrong people there’s no due process, there’s no sort of time to say, ‘Well let’s have a trial to find out who we have here,'” Paul said. “I’m alarmed by anybody who wants to go back to torture. The people in the Senate who have been tortured, namely John McCain, don’t think torture’s a good idea also. It’s currently against the law, and I hope it will remain against the law.”
By reinstating torture, President Trump would be in violation of law ratified by the Senate in 2015, and he would be going against the wishes of his own Secretary of Defense, General Mattis. Trump’s CIA Director Mike Pompeo, however, has left the door open to so-called “enhanced interrogation” techniques, including waterboarding, under certain circumstances. Senator Paul voted against Pompeo during his Senate confirmation hearing due in part to his position on torture.
“I really think that war — unless there’s an extraordinary exception — should be fought with the approval of the Congress and the approval of the American people,” he said.
