Vice President Dick Cheney has admitted for the first time that he was directly involved in approving the use of torture by the CIA. In an interview with ABC News, Cheney was questioned about the treatment of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was held in a secret CIA prison where he was waterboarded over 100 times.

Jonathan Karl: “Did you authorize the tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed?”

Dick Cheney: “I was aware of the program, certainly, and involved in helping get the process cleared. That is, the agency, in effect, came in and wanted to know what they could and couldn’t do. And they talked to me, as well as others, to explain what they wanted to do. And I supported it. There was a period of time there, three or four years ago, when about half of everything we knew about al-Qaeda came from that one source. So it’s been a remarkably successful effort. I think the results speak for themselves.”

Jonathan Karl: “In hindsight, do you think any of those tactics that were used against Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and others went too far?”

Dick Cheney : “I don’t.”

Vice President Cheney explicitly endorsed the use of waterboarding, a practice widely viewed as a form of torture.

Jonathan Karl: “And on KSM, one of those tactics, of course, widely reported was waterboarding. And that seems to be a tactic we no longer use. Even that, you think was appropriate?”

Dick Cheney: “I do.”

During the same interview, Cheney said the US military prison at Guantanamo should remain open indefinitely.