George Bennett in his article “Waterboarding and the trail to lin Laden: CIA chief acknowledges, West supports,: May 3, 2011, PostOnPolitics.com , notes:
Panetta
CIA Chief Leon Panetta told NBC News that waterboarding and other harsh interrogation techniques yielded some of the information that helped the U.S. find and kill Osama bin Laden.
Panetta said it’s an “open question” whether the same intelligence could have been obtained through other means.
Earlier in the day, U.S. Rep. Allen West, R-Plantation, said he favors “any means that ensures that the American people are protected.” West’s 22-year Army career ended after a 2003 incident in which he fired a pistol near the head of an Iraqi detainee to get him to talk about a suspected ambush.
West
In an interview Tuesday with online PJTV, West was asked about the harsh interrogation techniques that were approved by former PresidentGeorge W. Bush and criticized byPresident Obama.
Said West: “Any means that ensures that the American people are protected, they are safe, as well as our allies are safe, I’m all for that. And I don’t see anything wrong with waterboarding. I think that when you look at these non-state, non-uniform belligerents that we are capturing on the battlefield, we need to prosecute every means possible that we can ensure that we are protecting the American people.
“I think that this administration needs to stand up and understand this is not about appeasing their left-wing liberal base. He’s the president of the United States of America, not just the president of the liberals.”
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