"How can the Senate possibly approve the nomination of Mr. Gonzales as attorney general of the United States -- the official who symbolizes our respect for the rule of law -- when Mr. Gonzales is the official in the Bush administration who, as the White House counsel, advised the president that torture was an acceptable method of interrogation?"

....

"Putting aside legal interpretations, in your own personal opinion, should the United States use forced nudity, the threatening of detainees with dogs, or 'water-boarding' when interrogating detainees?"

Gonzales' answer: "I feel that the United States should avoid the use of such harsh methods of questioning if possible."

"If possible?" Feinstein said incredulously. " 'If possible' is a major loophole, and I truthfully don't know what it means. I don't know how big that loophole is intended to be."

....

...several media reports -- not denied by the administration -- have indicated the CIA is using the following tactics, many of which were used in Abu Ghraib:

-- Forced nudity and sexual situations (intended to violate Muslims' moral codes).

-- Use of unmuzzled dogs to threaten prisoners.

-- Exposure to extremes of hot and cold.

-- Sleep deprivation (keeping prisoners awake for many days at a time).

-- Use of stress positions (binding in contorted or painful stances for long periods, or forced standing in one place).

-- Water-boarding (tying the prisoner to a board and either dunking him in water or suffocating him with a soaking wet cloth, repeatedly to the point of near-drowning).

"These practices are designed to seem innocuous, to not leave physical scars on the prisoner, even though in fact they induce tremendous amounts of pain," said Malinowski. "They have been adopted from notorious dictatorships elsewhere."