Waterboard used by Khmer Rouge in Vietnam
The ACLU has been fighting since 2005 to have memos released written by Bush administration officials detailing what is now being called their “illegal torture program.” Recently, the Obama administration has authorized the declassification of four of these memos and the result has been a windstorm of controversy. Not only did top Bush administration officials approve of the harsh interrogation tactics outlined in the memos, they thought in many instances that the CIA was not going far enough.
Although stress positions-such as hanging a detainee from the ceiling for hours on end-and food, sleep and water deprivation have raised some eyebrows, the controversy over the memos stem primarily from the practice of waterboarding.
WHAT IS WATERBOARDING?
Essentially, waterboarding is a form of simulated drowning. The victim is placed on his or her back on a downward slant and then immobilized with chains, cuffs, or straps. In many instances, a cloth or other obstruction is forced down the victim’s throat and then water is poured over the breathing passages, causing the victim to suffocate. Make no mistake; this is not bobbing your head for apples as some republican proponents have suggested. Waterboarding causes an immediate gag-reflex and the victim begins to fight, believing they are about to drown. In many cases, there are broken bones caused by the victim’s struggling for air, damage to the lungs, and even brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation. Taken just a little too long, waterboarding will easily kill. In addition to physical damage, it can cause lasting psychological scars resulting in post traumatic stress disorder.
WHERE DID IT COME FROM?
The first reported uses of waterboarding were conducted by the Spanish Inquisition to draw confessions from prisoners. Afterward, it was adopted as a favorite method of interrogating prisoners by such organizations as the Gestapo in Nazi Germany and was used by the Japanese on American POW’s during World War II. In fact, many Japanese captors were tried for war-crimes following the War for their participation in waterboarding American soldiers.
But the current use of waterboarding, and its justification by the Office of Legal Counsel under the Bush administration, was inspired by Chinese and Vietnamese communists in the 1960′s and 1970′s. It was a favorite method of Pol Pot in torturing dissidents and much of his equipment is still on display in Southeast Asia.
IS IT TORTURE?
Waterboarding has undoubtedly been considered torture for nearly all of history since its inception. An American soldier during the Vietnam War took a photograph of himself and a South Vietnamese soldier waterboarding a North Vietnamese POW near Da Nang. The soldier was court-martialled within one month of the photo’s release and was discharged from the military.
Semantics can not wipe away the facts of what is occurring when someone is waterboarded. They are purposely and methodically caused intense pain to extract information. Even the Spanish Inquistion, known for their brutallity, considered it a method of torture akin to the rack or burning. Only by the Bush administration’s Office of Legal Counsel has it ever been defined as something other than torture.
IS THERE ANYTHING ELSE THEY COULD’VE USED?
The fine men and women of law enforcement across this country get confessions everyday. They do not beat, they do not torture and they do not inflict pain to get them. They use an understanding of human behavior and, in many cases, deception to get what they need. It is not unreasonable to assume that the CIA and Defense Department could have used the same tactics.
Perhaps one day we will look back at this period as a learning experience; that morality should never be exchanged for expediency. As Benjamin Franklin said, “Those that exchange a little portion of liberty, for a little portion of safety, will soon have neither.”
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