“Downing Street today [November 9, 2010] dismissed George Bush’s claim that waterboarding is not torture after the former president used his memoirs to play down the brutality of the interrogation technique and claimed that it saved British lives. Waterboarding, which was banned by President Barack Obama, helped foil attacks on Heathrow airport, Canary Wharf and a number of US targets around the world, according to Bush. In Decision Points, published today, Bush insists the practice–which simulates drowning–is not torture, describing it instead as one of a number of ‘enhanced interrogation techniques.’ But Downing Street confirmed the British government still shared Obama’s opinion that waterboarding constitutes torture. ‘It comes under that definition in our view,’ a No 10 spokeswoman said. The former chair of the Commons intelligence and security committee, Kim Howells, cast doubt on Bush’s claim that it had helped save British lives. ‘We are not convinced,’ said the Labour MP.”
– Haroon Siddique and Chris McGreal, “Waterboarding is Torture, Downing Street Confirms,” The Guardian, Nov. 9, 2010