Presidential advisor Karl Rove wrote, regarding President Bush’s fight against terrorism: “Of all the steps the Bush administration took…no issue became as controversial as when the president–unbeknownst to me at the time–authorized the use of enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) on high-value terrorist detainees. These tough, coercive techniques included stress positions, cramped confinement, ‘insult slaps,’ dietary manipulation, wall standing, water dousing, sleep deprivation, and waterboarding. They were used selectively against some thirty hard-core terrorist detainees who had successfully resisted other forms of interrogation. Only three were waterboarded. The practices were authorized by the Department of Justice in August [1] 2002 and done only with the explicit authorization of the CIA director [George Tenet]. They were carefully monitored and conducted by professionally trained intelligence experts.”
– Karl Rove, Courage and Consequence, Page 295