In his new memoir, former President George W. Bush says he personally gave the order to waterboard Khalid Sheik Mohammed in 2003.
According to the Washington Post, Bush writes that the CIA asked him if they could use the torture technique on Mohammed.
“Damn right,” he said.
The Post reports — via “someone close to Bush who has read the book” — that Bush writes that he would do it again if he thought it would save lives. He also reiterates his position that waterboarding, or simulated drowning, is not torture.
[TPM PHOTO GALLERY: Decision Points! A Look Back At The Bush Years]
Bush said he believed Mohammed, the self-proclaimed mastermind behind the 9/11 terrorist attacks, had information about pending attacks.
Another terrorism suspect who underwent what the Bush administration called an “enhanced interrogation technique,” Abu Zubaydah, was waterboarded more than 80 times in a month — raising questions about how much information the CIA was getting.
The Obama Justice Department has called the technique torture and condemned its use.
Also revealed in publicity tour surrounding the memoir, Decision Points: Bush considers himself a “dissenting voice” on the decision to go to Iraq.
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