US vice President Dick Cheney said on Monday the military prison at Guantanamo Bay could not be responsibly closed until the US war on terror is over and he defended the practice of subjecting detainees to simulated drowning during questioning.Cheney, in an interview with ABC News, said he was aware of the interrogation tactics used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged mastermind of the September 11 attacks, including the practice of waterboarding, which simulates drowning. Asked if he thought, in hindsight, any of the tactics went too far, Cheney said, “I don’t.” Questioned about whether he thought the reported use of waterboarding on Mohammed was appropriate, Cheney replied, “I do.”In previous wars, “we’ve always exercised the right to capture the enemy and then hold them until the end of the conflict. The same basic principle ought to apply here,” Cheney said.
