Bush Reiterates: US Doesn’t 'Torture People'

Legal expert to tell House committee it's no longer acceptable

(NEWSER) - A top Justice Department official will declare to a House subcommittee today that waterboarding is no longer legal—a day after Congress defied President Bush's veto threat to explicitly outlaw the controversial interrogation tactic. "The set of interrogation methods authorized for current use is narrower than before, and it does not today include waterboarding," says testimony prepared by Stephen Bradbury, acting head of the Office of Legal Counsel. More»

(NEWSER) - A Guantanamo inmate recently released to his native Afghanistan after almost 7 years of detention plans to sue the US for damages, the AP reports. Mohammed Jawad is considered one of the youngest prisoners held at the Cuban base—he claims he was 12 at the time he was captured, though the Justice Department maintains he was 17. “I was an innocent child when they put me in prison,” says Jawad, who claims he was tortured there. More»

(NEWSER) - Two-thirds of Americans want an investigation into alleged Bush administration misdeeds, including torture and warrantless wiretapping, a USA Today/Gallup poll shows. Forty percent of respondents would like to see criminal probes; one-quarter would prefer investigations without the possibility of criminal charges. And even more—70% of those surveyed—said the government should look into allegations that administration officials tried to use the Justice Department for political purposes. More»

Officials gave green light for array of painful interrogation techniques

(NEWSER) - The Justice Department under Alberto Gonzales secretly endorsed the use of torture techniques during interrogation by the CIA, the New York Times reports. A classified 2005 legal memorandum authorized the harshest techniques ever used by the CIA, the Times says, including a combination of head-slapping, waterboarding, sleep deprivation, freezing, loud noises and other forms of physical pain. More»

Compromise candidate will be named attorney general

(NEWSER) - President Bush is expected to announce the appointment of retired New York federal judge Michael B. Mukasey as attorney general, reports the Washington Post. Mukasey, 66, is considered an authority on national security issues and is a law-and-order conservative. He is also seen as someone who could be confirmed without a long battle in the Senate. More»