McCain Opposes Water Boarding

But he's the only GOP candidate who does, as field wrestles with detainee treatment
By Colleen Barry,  Newser Staff
Posted May 17, 2007 5:47 AM CDT
McCain Opposes Water Boarding
Republican presidential hopefuls, from left , Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee; Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Sen. Sam Brownback R-Kan.; former secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson; and former Massachusetts Gov....   (Associated Press)

If Rudy Giuliani is the only GOP presidential candidate who differs from the pack on abortion, John McCain stands alone on treatment of detainees, the LA Times notes. In the second debate, while Mitt Romney and Giuliani sanctioned using some forms of torture, including water boarding, on suspected terrorists, former POW McCain called for limits on interrogation techniques.

"We could never gain as much ... from that torture as we would lose in world opinion," McCain said. Giuliani, conversely, would let interrogators use "any method they can think of." One analyst noted that candidates struggle to appear tough without embracing torture, but McCain, who spent five years in a North Vietnamese prison camp, doesn't have to worry about looking weak. (More John McCain stories.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X