Karl Rove “Proud” of U.S. Waterboarding

As part of his ongoing media blitz to promote his book, Courage and Consequences, Karl Rove appeared Thursday on the BBC program Newsnight, where he told his host that he takes pride in the Bush administration’s so-called “enhanced interrogation” program.

“I’m proud that we used techniques that broke the will of these terrorists and gave us valuable information that allowed us to foil plots …” Rove said, adding that it “made the world safer.”

His host asked about waterboarding. “It is torture, isn’t it?”

“No it’s not,” Rove responded, inviting her to read the, um, torture memos. (”People need to read the memos that outline what was permissible and not permissible before they make a judgment about these things.”)

In the same interview, Rove acknowledged that intelligence on supposed WMDs in Iraq “got it wrong,” but defended the U.S. invasion anyway.

His BBC appearance followed a Wednesday interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, who asked Rove how his former boss is doing.

“He’s doing really well. He’s — he’s got a wonderful life.” Rove said, adding that he is “polishing” a book of his own, due out in November. “And life is really good for him.”