Gold9472
10-27-2006, 03:59 PM
White House spokesman spars with press regarding Cheney's torture 'admission'
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/White_House_spokesman_spars_with_press_1027.html
David Edwards and Ron Brynaert
Published: Friday October 27, 2006
In this afternoon's briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow sparred with the press regarding Vice President Dick Cheney's torture "admission."
During a conservative radio interview earlier this week, Cheney was asked whether he agreed "that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if it saves American lives."
"It's a no-brainer for me," Cheney responded. "But for a while there I was being criticized as the vice president for torture."
Snow told the press that Cheney was denying that his comments were specifically referring to the practice known as "water boarding," which was seen as the first admission by a Bush administration official that terrorist detainees has been subjected to the practice which even some Republican Senators consider torture.
"You know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will," Snow said. "You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this? No, come on."
"You say that Vice President Cheney doesn't make mistakes like this, he did go up and curse a senator to his face on the Senate floor, and accidentally shot his friend," a reporter pointed out. "So he's not perfect."
As members of the press challenged Snow over and over again, the White House press secretary insisted that the vice president was maintaining that he did not make any comments about water boarding and that the question asked of Cheney was loosely worded.
When a reporter said that he was just asking the White House spokesman to provide an explanation on what a dunk in water might mean, Snow answered, "Well, I'm telling -- how about a dunk in the water?."
A journalist then mockingly asked if that meant that a swimming pool had been set up for terror detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility so that they can "go swimming."
"I am telling you what the Vice President said," Snow told the press. "You can push all you want."
Excerpts from Snow press conference:
#
Q Tony, your argument that Vice President Cheney didn't know that he was being asked about waterboarding or wasn't being asked waterboarding and didn't intend to give an answer, but suggested he was saying the United States uses waterboarding. It just -- it doesn't follow when you read the transcript, and it doesn't follow with sort of common sense.
MR. SNOW: Well, I'll tell you what he --
Q How can you really make that argument?
MR. SNOW: -- I'll tell you he -- I'll tell you what he said. He was asked the question: You dunk somebody's head in the water to save a life, is it a no-brainer? And also if you read the rest of the answer, he also -- the vice president, who earlier had also been asked about torture -- he said, "We don't torture."
Let me give you the no-brainers here. Number one -- no-brainer number one is we don't torture. No-brainer number two, we don't break the law -- our own or international law. No-brainer number three, the vice president doesn't give away questioning techniques. And number four, the administration does believe in legal questioning techniques of known killers whose questioning can in fact be used to save American lives.
The vice president he says he was talking in general terms about a questioning program that is legal to save American lives, and he was not referring to waterboarding.
Q But how can you say that he's not referring to waterboarding when it is very clear, when you look at the whole context of not only that specific question, but the one before?
MR. SNOW: Did the word -- did the word "waterboarding" appear?
Q It came up in the context of talking about interrogation techniques, and the entire debate --
MR. SNOW: I understand that.
Q -- has been conducted in this country --
MR. SNOW: I understand that. I'm telling you what the vice president said. You push all you want. He wasn't referring to waterboarding and would not talk about techniques.
Q Well, Tony, let's back it up here for a second, though, because what we're saying is -- and I've got the transcript:
"Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?"
Vice President: "It's a no-brainer for me."
Tony, what --
MR. SNOW: Read the rest -- read the rest -- read the rest of the answer.
Q Let's -- what did "dunk in the water" refer to, if not waterboarding?
MR. SNOW: I'm just telling you. I'm telling you the vice president's position. I will let you draw your own conclusions because you clearly have. He says --
Q I didn't draw any conclusions. I'm asking for an explanation about what "a dunk in the water" could mean.
MR. SNOW: Well, I'm telling -- how about a dunk in the water?
Q So wait a minute. That's -- so dunk in the water means, what, we have a pool now at Guantanamo and they go swimming?
MR. SNOW: You doing stand-up? (Laughter.)
Q I'm asking -- well, let's start with something basic. I mean, "dunk in the water" refers to what? If it doesn't refer to waterboarding, tell me what it could possibly refer to.
MR. SNOW: No. I'm -- because -- the transcript's there. You read it. You interpret it.
I'm telling you what the vice president says. He says he wasn't referring --
Q (Off mike.)
MR. SNOW: What you're saying is the vice president is wrong in reporting what he says. I'm sorry; I'm telling you what the vice president says. I can't go any further, and I'm not going to engage in "what could he mean," because he said what he meant. He said he wasn't talking about waterboarding.
And furthermore, what you didn't read was the rest of the answer, which I asked you to do --
Q Which says what?
MR. SNOW: Where he talks about we don't torture, we obey the laws, and that sort of thing. And it also came up regularly within the context of that conversation.
So I know it's inviting to say, "The vice president confirms waterboarding, he's talking about waterboarding." Just it's not there.
Q One follow on this, because what you said in the morning was, "You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this?" Is it possible that he's not slipping up at all --
MR. SNOW: No.
Q -- but that he's winking to the base and saying --
MR. SNOW: No. No.
Q -- "Of course we waterboard, and of course we'll do anything we need to to get the information" --
MR. SNOW: I think you just won the Cynical Question of the Year Award. No. I don't.
Q How (is it ?) cynical?
Q No, no, no, there are more -- there are a lot more --
Q Yeah, I'm -- (inaudible) -- cynical -- (laughter).
Q Deep bench.
MR. SNOW: (Laughs.) Jim, you can bang away as much as you want. I'm telling you what the vice president -- I talked to Lee Anne about it. She says no, he wasn't referring to waterboarding, he was referring to using a program of questioning, not talking about waterboarding.
Let me put it this way. You got Dick Cheney, who has been head of an intelligence committee, he's been the secretary of Defense, he's been the vice president. This is not a guy who slips up. And he's also not a guy who does winks and nods about things that involve matters that you don't talk about for political reasons. Sorry.
Q Why didn't the vice president, then, when the inference was clearly there from the questioner, who more than once referred to --
MR. SNOW: I believe that his office is --
Q Please let me finish. Let me finish. He in the questioning talked about how his radio listeners believe that this is a useful tool. "If it takes dunking someone in order to save lives, isn't it a silly debate to be even questioning that?" The vice president says, "I do agree," later says, "That's been a very important tool that we've been able to secure the nation," referring to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
If the vice president is so careful, why did he allow himself to answer a question in which dunking in water was a part of that question?
MR. SNOW: The answer -- look, he was answering a question. And also, as you know, he went on to talk about torture.
Look. I've said what I'm going to say on it. I can't -- I really -- what you're asking me to do is deconstruct something. I've asked what he meant. I've told you what he said he meant. I can't go any further than that. So you can ask all the whys and wherefores.
But I want you to think -- let's go back to the no-brainer part here. The vice president is not somebody who's going to reveal techniques. He's been in this business for a very long time.
Q He was asked about a technique and he responded to a technique --
MR. SNOW: No, he was not asked --
Q -- and he said that he agreed --
MR. SNOW: He was not asked --
Q Informally he did.
MR. SNOW: No, "informally" doesn't work. I mean --
Q He knows in the context of a radio interview, to borrow your phrase, --
MR. SNOW: Well, I know. But, no, I think -- I actually think --
Q He's in a conversation with a radio audience to speak to the American people.
MR. SNOW: I understand all of that.
Q It doesn't have to be legally precise. The vice president understood what the questioner was asking.
End Part I
http://www.rawstory.com/news/2006/White_House_spokesman_spars_with_press_1027.html
David Edwards and Ron Brynaert
Published: Friday October 27, 2006
In this afternoon's briefing, White House spokesman Tony Snow sparred with the press regarding Vice President Dick Cheney's torture "admission."
During a conservative radio interview earlier this week, Cheney was asked whether he agreed "that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if it saves American lives."
"It's a no-brainer for me," Cheney responded. "But for a while there I was being criticized as the vice president for torture."
Snow told the press that Cheney was denying that his comments were specifically referring to the practice known as "water boarding," which was seen as the first admission by a Bush administration official that terrorist detainees has been subjected to the practice which even some Republican Senators consider torture.
"You know as a matter of common sense that the vice president of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding. Never would, never does, never will," Snow said. "You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this? No, come on."
"You say that Vice President Cheney doesn't make mistakes like this, he did go up and curse a senator to his face on the Senate floor, and accidentally shot his friend," a reporter pointed out. "So he's not perfect."
As members of the press challenged Snow over and over again, the White House press secretary insisted that the vice president was maintaining that he did not make any comments about water boarding and that the question asked of Cheney was loosely worded.
When a reporter said that he was just asking the White House spokesman to provide an explanation on what a dunk in water might mean, Snow answered, "Well, I'm telling -- how about a dunk in the water?."
A journalist then mockingly asked if that meant that a swimming pool had been set up for terror detainees held at the Guantanamo Bay prison facility so that they can "go swimming."
"I am telling you what the Vice President said," Snow told the press. "You can push all you want."
Excerpts from Snow press conference:
#
Q Tony, your argument that Vice President Cheney didn't know that he was being asked about waterboarding or wasn't being asked waterboarding and didn't intend to give an answer, but suggested he was saying the United States uses waterboarding. It just -- it doesn't follow when you read the transcript, and it doesn't follow with sort of common sense.
MR. SNOW: Well, I'll tell you what he --
Q How can you really make that argument?
MR. SNOW: -- I'll tell you he -- I'll tell you what he said. He was asked the question: You dunk somebody's head in the water to save a life, is it a no-brainer? And also if you read the rest of the answer, he also -- the vice president, who earlier had also been asked about torture -- he said, "We don't torture."
Let me give you the no-brainers here. Number one -- no-brainer number one is we don't torture. No-brainer number two, we don't break the law -- our own or international law. No-brainer number three, the vice president doesn't give away questioning techniques. And number four, the administration does believe in legal questioning techniques of known killers whose questioning can in fact be used to save American lives.
The vice president he says he was talking in general terms about a questioning program that is legal to save American lives, and he was not referring to waterboarding.
Q But how can you say that he's not referring to waterboarding when it is very clear, when you look at the whole context of not only that specific question, but the one before?
MR. SNOW: Did the word -- did the word "waterboarding" appear?
Q It came up in the context of talking about interrogation techniques, and the entire debate --
MR. SNOW: I understand that.
Q -- has been conducted in this country --
MR. SNOW: I understand that. I'm telling you what the vice president said. You push all you want. He wasn't referring to waterboarding and would not talk about techniques.
Q Well, Tony, let's back it up here for a second, though, because what we're saying is -- and I've got the transcript:
"Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?"
Vice President: "It's a no-brainer for me."
Tony, what --
MR. SNOW: Read the rest -- read the rest -- read the rest of the answer.
Q Let's -- what did "dunk in the water" refer to, if not waterboarding?
MR. SNOW: I'm just telling you. I'm telling you the vice president's position. I will let you draw your own conclusions because you clearly have. He says --
Q I didn't draw any conclusions. I'm asking for an explanation about what "a dunk in the water" could mean.
MR. SNOW: Well, I'm telling -- how about a dunk in the water?
Q So wait a minute. That's -- so dunk in the water means, what, we have a pool now at Guantanamo and they go swimming?
MR. SNOW: You doing stand-up? (Laughter.)
Q I'm asking -- well, let's start with something basic. I mean, "dunk in the water" refers to what? If it doesn't refer to waterboarding, tell me what it could possibly refer to.
MR. SNOW: No. I'm -- because -- the transcript's there. You read it. You interpret it.
I'm telling you what the vice president says. He says he wasn't referring --
Q (Off mike.)
MR. SNOW: What you're saying is the vice president is wrong in reporting what he says. I'm sorry; I'm telling you what the vice president says. I can't go any further, and I'm not going to engage in "what could he mean," because he said what he meant. He said he wasn't talking about waterboarding.
And furthermore, what you didn't read was the rest of the answer, which I asked you to do --
Q Which says what?
MR. SNOW: Where he talks about we don't torture, we obey the laws, and that sort of thing. And it also came up regularly within the context of that conversation.
So I know it's inviting to say, "The vice president confirms waterboarding, he's talking about waterboarding." Just it's not there.
Q One follow on this, because what you said in the morning was, "You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this?" Is it possible that he's not slipping up at all --
MR. SNOW: No.
Q -- but that he's winking to the base and saying --
MR. SNOW: No. No.
Q -- "Of course we waterboard, and of course we'll do anything we need to to get the information" --
MR. SNOW: I think you just won the Cynical Question of the Year Award. No. I don't.
Q How (is it ?) cynical?
Q No, no, no, there are more -- there are a lot more --
Q Yeah, I'm -- (inaudible) -- cynical -- (laughter).
Q Deep bench.
MR. SNOW: (Laughs.) Jim, you can bang away as much as you want. I'm telling you what the vice president -- I talked to Lee Anne about it. She says no, he wasn't referring to waterboarding, he was referring to using a program of questioning, not talking about waterboarding.
Let me put it this way. You got Dick Cheney, who has been head of an intelligence committee, he's been the secretary of Defense, he's been the vice president. This is not a guy who slips up. And he's also not a guy who does winks and nods about things that involve matters that you don't talk about for political reasons. Sorry.
Q Why didn't the vice president, then, when the inference was clearly there from the questioner, who more than once referred to --
MR. SNOW: I believe that his office is --
Q Please let me finish. Let me finish. He in the questioning talked about how his radio listeners believe that this is a useful tool. "If it takes dunking someone in order to save lives, isn't it a silly debate to be even questioning that?" The vice president says, "I do agree," later says, "That's been a very important tool that we've been able to secure the nation," referring to Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
If the vice president is so careful, why did he allow himself to answer a question in which dunking in water was a part of that question?
MR. SNOW: The answer -- look, he was answering a question. And also, as you know, he went on to talk about torture.
Look. I've said what I'm going to say on it. I can't -- I really -- what you're asking me to do is deconstruct something. I've asked what he meant. I've told you what he said he meant. I can't go any further than that. So you can ask all the whys and wherefores.
But I want you to think -- let's go back to the no-brainer part here. The vice president is not somebody who's going to reveal techniques. He's been in this business for a very long time.
Q He was asked about a technique and he responded to a technique --
MR. SNOW: No, he was not asked --
Q -- and he said that he agreed --
MR. SNOW: He was not asked --
Q Informally he did.
MR. SNOW: No, "informally" doesn't work. I mean --
Q He knows in the context of a radio interview, to borrow your phrase, --
MR. SNOW: Well, I know. But, no, I think -- I actually think --
Q He's in a conversation with a radio audience to speak to the American people.
MR. SNOW: I understand all of that.
Q It doesn't have to be legally precise. The vice president understood what the questioner was asking.
End Part I