Most Americans condemn torture, but people are more lenient of it when it is referred to as “enhanced interrogation techniques.”

people in the United States condemn the use of waterboarding by the American military and intelligence agencies, a new Angus Reid Public Opinion poll has found.

In the online survey of a representative national sample of 1,010 American adults, 49 per cent of respondents disapprove of the practice known as waterboarding—33 per cent of them strongly.

Waterboarding consists of a prisoner being immobilized and interrogators pouring water over the face into breathing passages, generating the sensation of drowning. Two-in-five Americans (39%) approve of the technique being applied on terror suspects.

Torture vs. Enhanced Interrogation Techniques

During the presidential administration headed by George W. Bush, government officials coined the term “enhanced interrogation techniques” to describe certain procedures to retrieve information from terror suspects. Critics have said the term is a euphemism for torture.

In this survey, respondents were divided into two groups. Half of respondents were asked their opinion on torture and the other half their opinion about “enhanced interrogation techniques.”

In the first group, a majority of respondents think the use of torture against terror suspects is never justified (30%) or is justified only some times (25%). Conversely, just over a third of respondents say torture in this context is justified most of the time (21%) or always (13%).

In comparison, almost three-in-five respondents in the second group say the use of enhanced interrogation techniques is justified always (26%) or most of the time (31%). A third of respondents say such techniques are rarely (19%) or never (15%) justified in this context.

Political Divisions

Overall, a majority of Republicans agree with the use of torture on terror suspects (52% in the first group), and the use of enhanced interrogation techniques (77% in the second group). They also condone the use of waterboarding (58%).

Almost half of Democrats justify the use of enhanced interrogation techniques (48%), while 30 per cent justify the use of torture, and the same proportion agrees with officials using waterboarding on terror suspects.

Most Independents think enhanced interrogation techniques are acceptable (60%), but fewer justify the use of torture (32%) and waterboarding (43%).

Full Report, Detailed Tables and Methodology (PDF)

CONTACT:

Mario Canseco, Vice President, Public Affairs
+604 647 3570
mario.canseco@angus-reid.com