John McCain Takes Issue With Dick Cheney's Speech

Former Vice President Dick Cheney delivered what is being billed as a rebuttal speech to President Barack Obama's address on the contentious issue of how best to protect Americans against terrorists. In the blogosphere, Cheney's remarks received intense scrutiny, both for factual accuracy and for the manner in which they were delivered. But one mainstream Republican critic, Senator John McCain, took issue with Cheney's notion that torture procedures such as waterboarding are not only efficacious, but are also morally justified.

Speaking to The Atlantic's Jeffery Goldberg, McCain (himself a victim of torture) said this of Cheney's speech:

"When you have a majority of Americans, seventy-something percent, saying we shouldn't torture, then I'm not sure it helps for the Vice President to go out and continue to espouse that position..."

McCain added:

"...[Cheney] believes that waterboarding doesn't fall under the Geneva Conventions and that it's not a form of torture. But you know, it goes back to the Spanish Inquisition."

You can read Obama's speech here. And Cheney's rejoinder here.


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