Giuliani, Self-Professed Terrorism Expert, Can’t Give a Straight Answer On Torture

Although it sounds like a no-brainer, Rudy can't make up his mind on whether or not we should torture detainees:

He affirmed his commitment to keep American soldiers in Iraq, emphasized the danger Iran poses and, for the first time, distanced himself from certain interrogation methods that the Bush administration backs. He said he did not think that waterboarding, in which a detainee or prisoner is strapped with his feet above his head, gagged and made to think he is drowning, was necessary.

First used in the Spanish Inquisition, the method is widely considered torture by human rights groups. The procedure had been on a list of approved “enhanced interrogation techniques” used by the United States on terror suspects, although the Central Intelligence Agency has left it off a proposal for an updated set of rules on permissible techniques. Mr. Giuliani, who did not directly answer the question when it came up at a recent Republican debate, told reporters at a news conference that information could be gathered without going to such extremes.

“I think you can do it without something like waterboarding,” he said after being pressed. He was quick to say he thought that interrogation needed to be aggressive, but likened what he meant to more traditional means of obtaining information.