Here's a sneak peek at our Nov. 9 issue, which will go up on the home page later this afternoon: "Torture's Enablers".

First you are strapped to a plank. Then theplank is tilted so that your feet are above your head. Next a cloth ispulled taut across your mouth, and finally water is poured directlyonto the cloth. Breathing becomes nearly impossible. You start to feellike youre drowning-because you are. The flow of water ceases justbefore you pass out, and if you dont tell the interrogators what theywant to know, the process begins again.

That technique, once routinely practiced bythe Khmer Rouge, is called waterboarding. It is a serious form oftorture, and as such it is prohibited by the Geneva Conventions and byU.S. law. Yet at his confirmation hearings in October, AttorneyGeneral-nominee Michael Mukasey testified that he did not know what theprocess entails. Is waterboarding constitutional? Senator SheldonWhitehouse (D-R.I.) asked. I dont know whats involved in thetechnique, Mukasey answered. If waterboarding is torture, torture isnot constitutional.

Given that the Department of Defense hasauthorized waterboarding for use by U.S. personnel, perhaps itshouldnt surprise anyone that President George W. Bushs nominee couldnot manage a straight answer. Still, its hard to believe that someonein Mukaseys position doesnt know whats involved in waterboarding. Asretired Rear Admiral John D. Huston explained at the Mukasey hearings:Other than perhaps the rack and thumbscrews, waterboarding is the mosticonic example of torture in history. It has been repudiated forcenturies.

Read the rest right here, and look for the home page update in a little while.

Also, thanks to Nick Clifford, here's a link to Sen. Patrick Leahy's statement on his decision to vote against Mukasey. We'll see what his colleagues choose tomorrow.