May 3, 2011 4:09 PM EDT
Amidst reports that Osama bin Laden was located and killed with the assistance of intelligence gather from detainees at Guantanamo Bay – some of whom were allegedly tortured via waterboarding, among other techniques – a debate is raging over the usefulness of torture.
Senator Dianne Feinstein, chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, denied that any of the information that ultimately led to finding Osama at his luxury compound was in any way gained from torture.
“To the best of our knowledge,” she said at a Tuesday morning press conference, “based on a look, none of it came as a result of harsh interrogation techniques.”
However, some Republicans are claiming that harsh interrogation techniques on prisoners (including torture) is what really led to the capture of Osama, downplaying President Barack Obama’s role in the adventure.
"We obtained that information through waterboarding," Republican Congressman Peter King told Fox News.
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"So for those who say that waterboarding doesn’t work, who say it should be stopped and never used again, we got vital information, which directly led us to Bin Laden."
Similarly, another Republican, Congressman Steve King of Iowa, quipped on Twitter, "Wonder what President Obama thinks of water boarding now?"
Moreover, such a stance gives greater credibility to former president George W. Bush, under whom the torture of foreign inmates took place.
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, the Virginia Republican, explicitly credited Bush with Osama’s capture and murder. "Nearly ten years ago, President Bush stood before the nation after 9/11 and pledged to the American people that we will not tire and we will not falter, and we will not fail in our quest to defeat those who intend to do us harm through acts of terror," he said.
"Last night we heard President Obama tell a very changed nation that we did not fail."
Similarly, Sarah Palin, the former Republican Vice Presidential nominee, told a group of college students, "We thank President Bush for having made the right calls to set up this victory."
Others are not so sure.
The Associated Press reported that the courier who provided crucial information on Osama’s residence was subject to routine interrogation, not “enhanced” ones (like torture). In addition, Donald Rumsfeld, the Defense Secretary under Bush, insisted that
"it was not harsh treatment and it was not waterboarding" that produced the necessary information on Osama’s lair.
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