President Bush said he has never ordered the torture of Iraqi or al Qaeda prisoners as the White House last night released secret documents showing the use of dogs to induce fear was approved among interrogation methods at Guantanamo Bay.
The White House release of a thick file of newly declassified papers tried to demonstrate that Mr Bush and his top aides, in setting policy on interrogation methods, insisted that detainees at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, be treated humanely. The use of dogs against prisoners in Guantanamo was later abandoned.
Rumsfeld: approved harsh interrogation techniques
"Let me make very clear the position of my government and our country: We do not condone torture. I have never ordered torture. I will never order torture. The values of this country are such that torture is not a part of our soul and our being," Mr Bush told reporters at the White House.
But Democratic Senator Mr Patrick Leahy of Vermont accused the White House of releasing a "self-serving selection" of documents. "The stonewalling in the prison abuse scandal has been building to a crisis point," he said.
The documents showed Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld in December 2002 approved harsh interrogation techniques for Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners at the US Naval Base in Guantanamo, only to rescind many of those weeks later and approve less aggressive techniques in April of 2003.
Treatment of the Guantanamo detainees, including interrogation methods, has come under scrutiny following a scandal over abuse and sexual humiliation of Iraqi prisoners by US forces at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.
Mr Rumsfeld originally approved aggressive interrogation tactics at Guantanamo Bay after military leaders there complained in a memo that "current guidelines for interrogation procedures at GTMO limit the ability of interrogators to counter advanced resistance."
The Guantanamo Bay leaders requested permission to use a wet towel and dripping water to induce "the misperception of suffocation" and the use of "mild, non-injurious physical contact such as grabbing, poking in the chest with the finger, and light pushing."
In response, in December 2002 Mr Rumsfeld approved tactics such as forcing a detainee to stand up for up four hours, forced isolation for up to 30 days, deprivation of light, use of 20-hour interrogations, removal of clothing, forced shaving of facial hair, "inducing stress by use of detainee's fears (e.g., dogs)," and use of mild physical contact that did not cause injury.
A Pentagon legal brief recommending the use of the tactics argued that the proposed techniques were likely to pass constitutional muster as long as they were applied "in a good faith effort and not maliciously or sadistically for the very purpose of causing harm."
"The federal torture statute will not be violated as long as any of the proposed strategies are not specifically intended to cause severe physical pain or suffering or prolonged mental harm," the legal brief said.