US could use harsh interrogations again: White House

0 Comments | AFP, February, 2008

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States may use waterboarding to question terrorism suspects in the future, the White House said Wednesday, rejecting the widely held belief that the harsh practice amounts to torture.

"It will depend upon circumstances," spokesman Tony Fratto said. "The belief that an attack might be imminent, that could be a circumstance that you would definitely want to consider."

The practice, a staple of brutal interrogations from the Spanish Inquistion to Cambodia's Khmer Rouge regime, usually consists of strapping down a captive, covering their face with a cloth, and pouring water onto the cloth.

Fratto underlined that the tactic -- which experts liken to controlled drowning -- is not currently permitted, but left the door wide open to...