Giuliani: Line between intensive questioning, torture is 'difficult one'

Muriel Kane Published: Monday November 5, 2007  del.icio.us
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Republican presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani suggested this weekend that he sees only a fine line between the sort of intensive questioning practiced by New York City Police and torture.

Giuliani's attempts to define his concept of torture began when was asked a couple of weeks ago whether he believes waterboarding is torture and responded, "It depends on how it is done; it depends on the circumstances; it depends on who does it. I think the way it has been defined in the media, it shouldn’t be done."

John McCain commented the next day, "All I can say is that [waterboarding] was used in the Spanish Inquisition, it was used in Pol Pot's genocide in Cambodia, and there are reports that it is being used against Buddhist monks today. ... It is not a complicated procedure. It is torture."

During an interview broadcast this weekend on Political Capital with Al Hunt, Hunt asked Giuliani, "You have noted the Congress has not outlawed it, and that you say it's not necessarily torture; it depends on the circumstances. John McCain says you are wrong and he says you haven't served in the military and have no experience in the conduct of warfare. Do you know more about torture than John McCain?"

McCain was a prisoner of war in North Vietnam for over five years, during which time he was repeatedly beaten and tortured.

Giuliani's response to Hunt was, "I can't say that I do but I do know a lot about intensive questioning and intensive questioning techniques. After all, I have had a different experience than John. John has never been – he has never run city, never run a state, never run a government. He has never been responsible as a mayor for the safety and security of millions of people, and he has never run a law enforcement agency, which I have done."

"Now, intensive questioning works," Giuliani continued. "If I didn't use intensive questioning, there would be a lot of mafia guys running around New York right now and crime would be a lot higher in New York than it is. Intensive questioning has to be used. Torture should not be used. The line between the two is a difficult one."

McCain's response to this, offered at a town hall appearance on Sunday, was, "When someone says waterboarding is similar to harsh interrogation techniques used against the mafia in New York City, they do not have enough experience to lead our military."

The following video is from Bloomberg TV's Political Capital with Al Hunt', broadcast on November 2, 2007.