Bush defends waterboarding in memoir

In his autobiography, released today, the former president admits he approved the technique.

The revelation that George W. Bush was directly responsible for the use of waterboarding during the interrogation of terror suspects has renewed calls that he be prosecuted under international law. Waterboarding is considered by many to be a form of torture, but the 43rd president writes in Decision Points that he was assured it did no lasting harm to prisoners and that the technique netted valuable information that led to the capture of Kalid Sheikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks. On another major controversy of his presidency, Bush calls his slow response to Hurricane Katrina “unacceptable” but says the idea that he didn’t care about black Americans was perception, not reality, despite what Kanye West might say.