Torture tantrum

Politics: What constitutes ill treatment of prisoners is turning into a constitutional test of executive powers | Mark Bergin

SHADES OF GRAY: Mukasey is seen on a TV monitor as he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee

High-ranking officials in the Bush administration from White House Press Secretary Dana Perino to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on up to President George W. Bush himself hold fast to the same unequivocal position on the country's interrogation practices: Namely, the United States does not torture, period. Trouble is, a precise definition of just what constitutes torture remains lacking.

Members of the Senate Judiciary Committee hoped to parse the fuzzy edges surrounding that definition during confirmation hearings for U.S. attorney general nominee Michael Mukasey. Instead, Mukasey has echoed the semantic obfuscation of his predecessor, Alberto Gonzales. Asked directly if he considers the practice of waterboarding to be torture, the longtime federal judge replied, "I don't know what's involved in the technique. If waterboarding is torture, torture is not constitutional."