In the wake of the release of
a Senate report on CIA torture, Sen. Lindsey Graham didn't defend the actions depicted, but said he can see why they happened.
Appearing Tuesday on Fox News Channel's "On the Record with Greta Van Susteren," the South Carolina Republican noted that America had just been hit hard in the 9/11 attacks, and people were afraid we would be hit again soon.
"I understand why people did this," he said.
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Still, as a military lawyer, he said there is no difference between so-called "enhanced interrogation techniques" and torture.
"There are some enhanced interrogation techniques that probably don't violate the Detainee Treatment Act that are beyond the Army Field Manual," Graham said, adding that it is "pretty absurd" to limit techniques to the Army Field Manual since its purpose simply is to ensure that "Cpl. Smith doesn't abuse a prisoner in the field."
The government should allow latitude past the field manual, he said. "But waterboarding in the military's point of view has been illegal as long as I've been a military lawyer."
He pointed out that the al-Qaida and the Islamic State (ISIS)'s use of crucifixions, beheadings and slavery of women is beginning to backfire against them, and that American can win the war on terror within our values.
"We have a lot going for us that our enemy doesn't," he said. "We're actually good people, and they're bastards."
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