americanwoman

Do you consider the technique of waterboarding torture? Some higher ups try and say it's not so much torture as an 'enhanced interrogation technique.
For those who do not know waterboarding is the act of stimulated drowning, used to obtain information.

Also here is a quick definition of torture that we are going with: Torture, according to international law, is "any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity

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americanwoman

I myself am terrified of drowning and suffocating so to me it would be extreme torture for someone to waterboard me. I consider it unethical and as a country who is supposed to be held in higher standards, I am ashamed we have sunken as low to do interrogation tactics such as waterboarding.

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Somehow our devils are never quite what we expect when we meet them face to face
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Lachean

Drowning is on my list of one of the worst ways to go, water boarding is torture by definition, and if you think otherwise, would you not feel tortured if water boarded? How does the purpose and effect differ from torture as an interrogation method at all?

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At the root of every civilized achievement, such as science, technology, progress, freedom--at the root of every value we enjoy today, including the birth of this country--you will find the achievement of one man, who lived over two thousand years ago: Aristotle.

rivrrat

It doesn't leave any ugly marks or bruises or open wounds.

I think it's torture, but what I stated above is why I think the "officials" are able to get away with saying it's NOT.

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Lachean

Well you can beat a man with a bar of soap in a towel and not leave a mark, that does not negate the beating.

I don't think they get away with saying its not. I don't think anyone, not even ToT, actually believes their rhetoric. They know its torture, they believe it to be a necessary means for whatever political ends they desire. But for the sake of our international reputation, we've adopted a "lets do it and say we didn't" attitude. We must keep up appearances no?

I mean, who's going to make a fuss when everyone knows we torture, and no one is willing to admit it or stand up to us about it? Who wants to be the enemy of a torturer? The only person who tries, is considered to have no chance for the presidential nomination.

Can't be president if you care about: liberty, the constitution, or real human suffering. You must be HARD, you must ASSERT AUTHORITY, and you must keep ALL options on the table, in order to be electable to this electorate.

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At the root of every civilized achievement, such as science, technology, progress, freedom--at the root of every value we enjoy today, including the birth of this country--you will find the achievement of one man, who lived over two thousand years ago: Aristotle.

DeeJayH

voted NO by mistake

obviously it is torture, but i approve of its limited use against high value detainees in this war
I do not believe it is necessary in conventional warfare
but it is a useful tool in the WOT where information is time sensitive
and it cant hurt in the ticking time bomb scenario

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Iriemon

Without a doubt. I believe it always has been uniformally considered torture until the current crop of inquisitionists took control of the Govt.

Panache

Does it disturb anyone that our government is torturing our most elite soldiers?

new coup for you

I think anyone who insists that it isn't torture should be waterboarded themselves.

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And why does your tone suggest that you do not care about children?

Billo_Really

Anyone who thinks waterboarding isn't torture, is a PIECE OF SHIT!