Waterboarding: President Bush Favors Torturing the Legally Innocent
The title of this entry may be harsh, but waterboarding is torture according to counterterrorism specialist Malcolm Wrightson 
Nance. Nance taught at the Navy's Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape (SERE) school in California, so is an expert on interrogation and resisting it. The technique was performed on Nance, who said, "It is an overwhelming experience that induces horror and triggers frantic survival instincts." It is like drowning, meaning a subject "will say or do anything to make it stop, rendering the information they give nearly useless."
The White House announced that President George W. Bush plans to veto a bill outlawing its use by the CIA (American Central Intelligence Agency). Strangely, while the CIA can use it the U. S. Military cannot.
According to a report by ABC News, "CIA officers who subjected themselves to the water boarding technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in." Nance and the officers are professionals who know they're just doing their job, not people who are in terror that they may actually be killed. But pouring water into the nose and mouth to be inhaled into the lungs can be quite dangerous, and can do lasting psychological and even physical harm. The two front-running Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama have called it torture, as has Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
Even ignoring the fact that America is supposedly a nation that believes you're innocent until proven guilty, there's a great deal of evidence that torture is not an effective interrogation method. As Nance pointed out, someone being tortured may say anything to get it stopped. As Americans, do we really believe in torturing legally innocent people in order to get information that's very likely bogus?
The Washington Post interview with Nance is at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/08/AR2007110802150.html, the ABC News article is at http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Investigation/story?id=1322866 and the Associated Press article on Bush's threatened veto is at http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080308/ap_on_go_pr_wh/bush_torture.
(Look for immediate updates by clicking below; later followups will likely be added as separate entries)
Comments
Waterboarding is torture. It's been called torture for centuries. The U. S. Government called it torture in the 1940s--when it was done by someone else. It's considered a war crime. If we don't work to stop it, we're guilty of doing it. No matter what Iraq-bombing Bush says.
Posted by: Greg Kinear | March 8, 2008 06:31 PM
Making somebody feel like their drowing isn't torture? Come on Mr. Bush. Get a brain! How bout we try waterboarding on you and see how it feels?
Posted by: Harry Carry | March 11, 2008 04:19 AM
President Bush is a Christian Dictator. Except he doesn't act like a Christian and he's not a very good dictator.
Posted by: Tinglish English | March 15, 2008 04:15 PM
President Bush is the AntiChrist! The Bible says the AntiChrist would invade Babylon which is Iraq and thats what he did! Rev. 13:4
Posted by: George the Gorge | March 20, 2008 06:56 PM
And to think George W. Bush, who approves stripping prisoners and forcing them to inhale water, used to be a cheerleader. I can just see it.
"Rah, rah, strip their clothes!
Pour that water down their nose!"
Posted by: Not Necessarily Who I Claim To Be | March 24, 2008 02:55 AM
Bush isn't good enough to be the antichrist! That takes talent!
Posted by: Anna Banana | March 25, 2008 03:15 AM
You Americans do love your violence. I love American westerns but I certainly wouldn't want to live in one. Until we watched your shows on the telly, our bobbies didn't even carry guns. Now they have to. No thanks to you! But I love Americans anyway! You're violent but sexy!
Posted by: quonky | March 25, 2008 04:14 AM
We are sexy. But we don't approve of waterboarding!
Posted by: Francine Gimli | March 29, 2008 06:08 PM
What we need is more cheerleaders! If we were all busy watching them, we wouldn't have time to be terrorists.
Posted by: Rev. Bootie | March 30, 2008 01:18 PM
hey guys
I whole heartedly love the look of www.loveshade.org. Looks good, keep it up!
anyways.. i don't believe in torture. if its wrong its still wrong even if you're one of the good guys
Posted by: Gary | August 22, 2008 05:54 PM
How about we waterboard President Bush and get him to confess to all those warcrimes?
Posted by: GorgonGrok | September 25, 2008 08:23 PM
exciting and informative, but would be suffering with something more on this topic?
Posted by: astossefE | February 12, 2009 02:39 AM
I think this was a very interesting post thanks for writing it!
Posted by: npoet.ru | August 9, 2009 11:37 AM
Great info dude!!
Posted by: ownbig.ru | September 30, 2009 02:00 PM
Would a fly without wings be called a walk?
Posted by: Off Topic Joe | October 9, 2009 04:59 PM