Army Chief of Staff, General Shalikashvili says Waterboarding against Geneva Conventions

In 2005 a dozen retired general and flag officers wrote to the Senate Judiciary Committee over the nomination of Alberto Gonzales to head the Justice Department. Gonzales, the former White House counsel, was linked to the so-called torture memo that effectively loosened the rules on interrogation and deemed that enemy combatants did not fall under the protections of the Geneva Conventions.

But the retired generals and admirals, among them retired Army Chief of Staff Gen. John Shalikashvili, slammed the policy.

"The United States commitment to the Geneva Conventions the laws of war flows not only from field experience, but also from the moral principles on which this country was founded, and by which we all continue to be guided," the group wrote. "We have learned first hand the value of adhering to the Geneva Conventions and practicing what we preach on the international stage."

Officially, the administration backed off the so-called torture memo, though reports that waterboarding continued to be used have persisted. In September, ABC News reported that Air Force Gen. Michael Hayden, director of the Central Intelligence Agency, officially banned the use of waterboarding.

Now the practice is back in the debate, as senators initially seemed poised to approve Mukasey with all haste. But his response to questions about waterboarding has prompted some committee members to raise serious concerns, and has thrown his nomination in doubt.

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