Sen. Ted Cruz suggested in the Republican debate Saturday night that he would be open to allowing waterboarding of captured enemies in some circumstances, allowing an exception to his anti-torture stance.
Asked by the debate moderator if waterboarding was torture, the Texas senator said it was not.
“Under the definition of torture, not it’s not,” Cruz said, explaining that it is not equivalent to the extreme pain relevant in the legal definition of torture.
“It is enhanced interrogation. It is vigorous interrogation. But it does not meet the generally recognized definition of torture,” he explained.
Cruz clarified that he would not bring waterboarding back into “widespread use,” and said he supports recent legislation that prohibits low-ranking officers from using it. Waterboarding, a procedure that involves dousing prisoners in such a way to make them feel as though they are drowning, was used by the George W. Bush administration to interrogate terrorists, creating national controversy.
Nevertheless, “if it were necessary to, say, prevent a city from facing an imminent terrorist attack, you can rest assured that as Commander in Chief I would use whatever enhanced interrogation methods we could to keep this country safe,” Cruz concluded.
Previously, Cruz had staked out a strong anti-torture stance. He joined with Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in backing legislation to prohibit torture. In a speech in December 2014, he said that “torture is wrong, unambiguously. Period. The end. Civilized nations do not engage in torture and Congress has rightly acted to make absolutely clear that the United States will not engage in torture.”
Some of Cruz’s Republican rivals have either refused to rule out bringing back waterboarding, or, in the cases of Donald Trump and Ben Carson, have suggested a willingness to go beyond waterboarding in interrogating enemies.
