Newsweek recounts Whitehouse torture brainstorm

In the first article recounting the specific discussions that went on in the Whitehouse regarding torture, Newsweek tells in detail what techniques Whitehouse counsel Alberto Gonzales hoped to legally justify during interrogation. It is, even for the hardened cynic, disturbing to imagine this conservation occurring in a room at the President's office and residence.

One by one, the lawyers went over five or six pressure techniques proposed by the CIA. One such technique, a participant recalls, was "waterboarding" (making a suspect think he might drown). Another, mock burial, was nixed as too harsh. A third, the open-handed slapping of suspects, drew much discussion. The idea was "just to shock someone with the physical impact," one lawyer explained, with "little chance of bone damage or tissue damage." Gonzales and the lawyers also discussed in great detail how to legally justify such methods.