Washington 26 Jan (ANA) - US President Donald Trump has said he believes waterboarding works, stating "we have to fight fire with fire". Mr Trump said that while radical groups beheaded people in the Middle East "we're not playing on an even field". But Mr Trump also said he would consult Defence Secretary James Mattis and CIA director Mike Pompeo and "if they don't want to do it that's fine". Both have indicated opposition to reintroducing the interrogation method, widely considered a form of torture. Former CIA director Leon Panetta told the BBC it would be a "serious mistake to take a backward step" on torture. What is waterboarding? It is an interrogation process that causes the subject to experience the sensation of drowning. The subject is strapped to an angled board facing down and a cloth is placed over their mouth. Water is poured over the face, creating the feeling that the lungs are filling with water. Speaking to ABC News, Mr Trump said he wanted to "keep our country safe". "When they're shooting, when they're chopping off the heads of our people and other people, when they're chopping off the heads of people because they happen to be a Christian in the Middle East, when Isis (IS) is doing things that nobody has ever heard of since Medieval times, would I feel strongly about waterboarding?" he asked. "I have spoken with people at the highest level of intelligence and I asked them the question 'Does it work? Does torture work?' and the answer was 'Yes, absolutely'. In his election campaign, Mr Trump had said he might order troops to carry out waterboarding "and tougher" methods on terrorism suspects, although the next day he said he would not order the military to break international law. How has it been used, does it work and is it legal? The CIA began using waterboarding, among other interrogation processes, after the 9/11 attacks in 2001.(ANA)

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