Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has waded into the CIA torture debate after Democrats on the U.S. Senate Intelligence Committee released a report on the interrogation techniques used after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
Justice Scalia, speaking Wednesday with a Swiss broadcaster on the issue, accused American and European liberals of being unduly self-righteous on the matter given the kind of real-world scenarios that could unfold, The Associated Press reported.
“Listen, I think it’s very facile for people to say, ’Oh, torture is terrible.’ You posit the situation where a person that you know for sure knows the location of a nuclear bomb that has been planted in Los Angeles and will kill millions of people. You think it’s an easy question? You think it’s clear that you cannot use extreme measures to get that information out of that person?” the Supreme Court Justice told Radio Television Suisse.
Former CIA leaders, including Directors George J. Tenet and Porter J. Goss, say the interrogation techniques used in the wake of 9/11 saved lives. They point to the intelligence gained after using those techniques — such as waterboarding — on 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
Justice Scalia also told his Swiss audience that the U.S. Constitution was not clear on the use of harsh interrogation techniques, which he differentiated from torture.
“I don’t know what article of the Constitution that would contravene,” he said, AP reported.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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