Jeb Bush leaves door open for use of torture by government

Republican presidential candidate Jeb Bush on August 13 declined to rule out resuming the use of torture under some circumstances by the U.S. government.

The former Florida governor said that in general, he believes torture is inappropriate, and that he was glad his brother, former President George W. Bush, largely ended the CIA's use of the techniques before he left office. The CIA used waterboarding, slapping, nudity, sleep deprivation, humiliation and other methods to coerce al-Qaida detainees - methods the military would be prohibited from using on prisoners of war.
     
"I don't want to make a definitive, blanket kind of statement," Bush told an audience of Iowa Republicans, when asked whether he would keep in place or repeal President Barack Obama's executive order banning so-called enhanced interrogation techniques by the CIA.
     
Bush, because of his brother and father - both former U.S. presidents - had the most name recognition entering the race to win the 2016 Republican Party nomination. However, billionaire businessman Donald Trump has been dominating the race this summer, even though he is still considered a long-shot candidate for the nomination.
     
A Senate report released last year cited CIA records in concluding that the techniques were more brutal than previously disclosed, that the CIA lied about them, and that they failed to produce unique, life-saving intelligence. The CIA and its defenders take issue with the report.
     
Jeb Bush said he believed that the techniques were effective in producing intelligence, but that "now we're in a different environment."
     
He suggested there may be occasions when brutal interrogations were called for to keep the country safe.
     
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