Waterboarding Is Torture

Over the past several years, I have disagreed with Christopher Hitchens on many occasions, especially in his support of the Iraq War. When the situation in Iraq turned very bad, he continued to defend the decision to go to war, saying only that the aftermath of the invasion had been catastrophically bungled. On the fifth anniversary of the beginning of the war, he insisted that the invasion was the right thing to do:

From The Australian:

We were already deeply involved in the life and death struggle of that country, and March 2003 happens to mark the only time that we decided to intervene, after a protracted and open public debate, on the right side and for the right reasons. This must, and still does, count for something.

Our opinions on the Iraq War, as yet, diverge, but I now find myself in agreement with Hitchens in another matter. He has voluntarily submitted to having himself waterboarded, and here is his account:

Here he is in Vanity Fair:

Here is the most chilling way I can find of stating the matter. Until recently, “waterboarding” was something that Americans did to other Americans. It was inflicted, and endured, by those members of the Special Forces who underwent the advanced form of training known as sere (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, Escape). In these harsh exercises, brave men and women were introduced to the sorts of barbarism that they might expect to meet at the hands of a lawless foe who disregarded the Geneva Conventions. But it was something that Americans were being trained to resist, not to inflict.
....

You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment, which is that it “simulates” the feeling of drowning. This is not the case. You feel that you are drowning because you are drowning—or, rather, being drowned, albeit slowly and under controlled conditions and at the mercy (or otherwise) of those who are applying the pressure. The “board” is the instrument, not the method. You are not being boarded. You are being watered.

You may have noticed that the title of his piece is "Believe Me, It’s Torture". I think we must believe him and the others who say that it is not "simulated" drowning, but actual drowning, from which you may be revived - or not, when things go terribly wrong. But then, a procedure like this is terribly wrong and shameful when sanctioned and put into operation by any country that calls itself civilized. I am told that the decision to allow waterboarding came from the very highest levels of government.