MSNBC’s Wagner to Cheney: ‘Torture and Terrorism Not the Same Thing’

‘Pain is not a universal diagnosis for what constitutes torture’

MSNBC’s Wagner to Cheney: ‘Torture and Terrorism Not the Same Thing’ (RealClearPolitics)

ALEX WAGNER, MSNBC: I could not believe the cravenness of invoking the memory of 9/11 as a blanket defense to not actually answer the real question: is this torture?

EUGENE ROBINSON, WASHINGTON POST: Right, because it doesn't answer the question. We did prosecute waterboarding -- Japanese officers who waterboarded people during World War II. It is torture; it is universally recognized as torture, as are some of the other practices we did.

But, you know, Americans can't be guilty of torture according to Dick Cheney. We're not al Qaeda. Well, the thing is, I am not Dick Cheney. I have a somewhat different view.

WAGER: We can both be thankful for that.

Glenn, the logic too, of setting that bar at flying planes at the World Trade Center is torture. I would say torture and terrorism are not the same thing. They are both awful but they are not the same thing. Pain is not a universal diagnosis for what constitutes torture.

 

Video files
Full
Compact
Audio files
Full
Compact