While Republican Presidential candidates equivocate over whether American tactics such as waterboarding constitute torture, one group of people are crystalclear about it: the torturers themselves. John Kiriakou used to torture for the CIA. He was responsible for the systematic torture of Abu Zubaydah, a mentally disturbed Al Qaeda logistics agent (a vile farce which should belie any claim that torture is effective). And in an interview with ABC, he's quite clear about what he did:
Now retired, Kiriakou says he has come to believe that waterboarding is torture.What's astounding is that he actually came forward. After all, he just admitted to torture - a federal crime with a penalty of up to 20 years imprisonment - live on camera. Shouldn't someone be pressing charges?"We're Americans, and we're better than this. And we shouldn't be doing this kinda thing," he said.