Cheney defends waterboarding

FORMER US vice-president Dick Cheney has said there is no contrad-iction in advocating harsh interrogation tactics against suspected US enemies and opposing those practices when used against its own citizens.

Cheney was asked about a hypothetical case in which Iran would decide to use waterboarding on an American suspected of spying. He said: “I think we would object on the grounds that we have ob-ligations to our citizens.”

Asked if he was embracing a double standard, he said: “These are not American citizens.”