Carl Levin

The cost should clearly not be the long pole in the tent.

The proposed rules have been reviewed, as I indicated, by Senator McCain and me and our staffs.

Will you take a look at that testimony and those statements of those commanders as part of your review?

When you mistreat or torture people, that they will say anything to end the torture, particularly with waterboarding as an example.

When I visited our troops in Afghanistan, I spoke to one of our senior intelligence officers who told me that treating detainees harshly is an impediment, it's actually a road block--to use that officer's words--to getting useful…

Will you take a look at that downside?

It's not just to the committee, but it's also to the public.

In order to help this committee and the public to understand exactly what happened and why...

Torture is illegal, immoral, dangerous and counterproductive.

The Attorney General has said the same thing publicly, that waterboarding constitutes torture.

President Obama has said that waterboarding is torture.

I know of nobody better prepared by experience, by character, the integrity that you have, by your demeanor to take on this responsibility.

Are you willing to take a look at that downside?

This is a fundamental question of credibility.

The military does their own interrogation. The FBI does their own interrogation.

I believe that any contract with a contractor to do interrogation should be severed.

I feel very strongly about not using contractors for interrogation.

I believe you yesterday said that in any event, whatever this review produces, that you will not condone or authorize illegal conduct by CIA personnel or contractors.

We do know he gave us false information, saying that first hand information that the Iraqis had trained al-Qa'ida in the use of poison gases.

Nobody's above the law and that he will follow the law wherever it takes him.

Minimizing civilian casualties is part of that, but the economic picture is part of it as well.

This war has to be a war of the Afghan people against those who would try to destroy their country and their hopes and dreams.

I expressed concern in those letters about these steps and I laid out a number of those concerns.

The use of abusive techniques can cost us and harm our security in those ways.

The President is going to sign an order today, apparently today, which will prohibit the intelligence community from using and the CIA from using coercive interrogation methods.