President Bush was confused by what “Waterboarding” meant.

James Clarke's picture

According to The Washington Post George W. Bush explicitly endorsed the CIA's use of torture interrogation techniques such as waterboarding against al-Qaeda suspects, despite his repeated assertions that "The United States Doesn't Torture".

Even though it's common knowledge, "George W. Bush is a liar" is really becoming a boring explanation for why the credibility of his statements doesn't hold up.

So here's a new explanation: George Bush was telling the truth, in a manner of speaking. The reason that President Bush's explicit endorsement of waterboarding doesn't contradict his assertion that the "United States Doesn't Torture" is that he misunderstood what "waterboarding" meant when he approved of it.

This is what George W. Bush imagined when he approved of "Waterboarding":
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