re: #86 realwest

No Waterboarding is NOT TORTURE - certain branches of our military “elites” and even some regular soldiers get that and far worse as part of their SERE training. The thread you linked to was of a “Shock Jock” - not a member of the military nor a dedicated Jihadist - being “waterboarded” - it is an interrogation technique.

I disagree — it IS torture. Special Forces ops are waterboarded in SERE training so they can learn to resist … guess what … torture. It’s used in this kind of training because it’s a form of torture that usually does not cause permanent physical damage.

When waterboarding was used by the Germans and Japanese against American troops in WWII, we had no hesitation at all about classifying it as torture. Does it suddenly stop being torture because Americans are doing it?

Is it the same as pulling out fingernails or beatings — obviously not. But it’s torture.

Are there extreme circumstances in which it’s justified? I’d say there are — the interrogation of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is one. But we should be clear that what we’re doing in that case is torture, instead of denying it and making light of it.

Also note this, from an article in the Washington Post:

In the post-Vietnam period, the Navy SEALs and some Army Special Forces used a form of waterboarding with trainees to prepare them to resist interrogation if captured. The waterboarding proved so successful in breaking their will, says one former Navy captain familiar with the practice, “they stopped using it because it hurt morale.”