[Update: see below]

Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) thinks that waterboarding is torture. Waterboarding is the "enhanced interrogation technique" in which the victim is strapped on an inclined board or table. The victims head is placed at the lower end of the table and water is forced down their throat filling their lungs. Proponents claim it is simulated drowning when in fact the victim is actually drowning. I guess it's only simulated if they don't end up drowning? Douglas Johnson wrote an op-ed in the Minneapolis Star Tribune about Norm's stance that places him on both sides of the issue. Johnson knows what he's talking about. He is Executive Director for the Center for Victims of Torture in Minneapolis.

Even Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., believes waterboarding is torture. Yet surprisingly, he has announced opposition to an amendment that would prohibit its use by the CIA.

For those of us who work with torture victims, there is no question that waterboarding is another in a long line of torture techniques relying on principles of asphyxiation. Their terrible impact relies on more than the panic resulting from cutting off the supply of air. They also constitute forms of mock execution, recognized as a separate and distinct type of torture. Our clients tell us that these experiences haunt their nightmares more than the physical pain they were forced to endure.
(Minneapolis Star Tribune)

For those of us who pay attention to Norm, this is all too common behavior. He says he believes one thing, but his voting record shows something different. The question which Norm evaded is:

Does Norm Coleman believe torture is wrong?

There are several ways to answer this. First of all, as Chair of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations from 2003-2007, he could have investigated the Bush Administrations use of torture on captured enemies. He chose not to. Secondly, he is a former federal prosecutor and as such you would think he would have an understanding of the importance of the rule of law. Yet, he voted for the Military Commissions Act which stripped captured enemies of their right to habeas corpus -- the right to challenge why they are being detained. Thirdly, he has stood idly by as these prisoners have been tortured and abused. He is unwilling to listen to allegations against the Bush Administration because he places partisanship above the laws of the United States.

So the evidence indicates that Norm Coleman does not believe torture is wrong.

However, he may employ Norm-speak^TM to state a position that he thinks it is wrong, yet doesn't want to rule it out in some sort of Republican-24-fantasy in which torturing a terrorist will save millions of people from nuclear death ...

Update

The Minnesota Daily (The University of Minnesota's paper) has a little more Norm-speak^TM, this time courtesy of Norm's mouthpiece, Leroy Coleman.

Leroy Coleman said Sen. Coleman believes waterboarding is a form of torture, but is concerned about the broader implications of applying U.S. Army standards to the CIA.

"The Army Field Manual is designed for very different circumstances and objectives than those of the CIA," Leroy Coleman said.

Holly Ziemer, director of communications for Minnesota-based Center for Victims of Torture, said the manual was written by military interrogators with years of experience working in times of crisis.

"The manual is very clear that torture is not an effective means of gaining what the military calls 'actionable information,' " Ziemer said.

"Military interrogators, FBI interrogators, even CIA staff have said this is just not an effective way of protecting and securing the nation," she said.
(MN Daily)