Sentence:  If Cheney calls it "enhanced interrogation", he argues, this still doesn't change the meaning of the word <WSD>"torture</WSD>", which Cheney and the public know perfectly well. But cognitive linguists like Lakoff (1996) remind us that the public can be manipulated into believing that torture is “merely” an enhanced interrogation technique and thus does not protest. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  intentional causing of somebody's experiencing agony