What You Already Knew: We Torture

We do not torture! The definition of torture is “to punish or coerce by inflicting severe pain, to cause intense suffering”
What we are doing is causing neither, we are making potential killers and terrorist really uncomfortable and quite honestly I could give a rat’s tail less how uncomfortable they are if it saves American or any innocent lives.
I have been water boarded as part of my military training, and you will talk if this is done to you, and if don’t talk the first time, or the information provided proves to be false, the threat of a second secession will make you more accommodating.
We are fighting a ruthless enemy who think noting about using mentally impaired people as human bombs, and I am supposed to feel bad that they are made uncomfortable.
GIV E ME A BREAK

torture is cutting peoples heads off. what is wrong with these people opposing any means necessary to make sure we are safe? let them go live over there, and then they'll realize what we're dealing with. these are probally the same people that say abortion is ok, lol. get real idiots.

That adds up to the 3 millionth lie that our cowboy clown pres. has told us AND the world. The US does NOT
torture it's prisoners. What a pile of shit!!

Hog Jaws Cheney should use the term that waterboarding is a "no brainer." He has no brain. Pure and simple!!

While I'm shocked and horrified by the two previous comments, I'll respond to statements within them.
Even under the loosest interpretation, waterboarding would qualify as "causing intense suffering". I'd like to know what military training "warrior26" underwent that included waterboarding. I'd also like to know the name of the officer that ordered it.
"Cutting heads off" isn't torture, it's murder (I find it somehow ironic that Kelton71 is anti-choice, yet pro torture, btw).
But the bottom line is this: torture has never led to good information. Ever. A person will tell you whatever they think you want to hear to escape the discomfort to which they are subjected. Torture has led to incorrect information time and time again, and therefore runs the risk of putting our soldiers at larger risk for two reasons: first, they are operating under instructions based on incorrect info, which can leave them unprepared for the reality of the situation. Second: it leaves them open to torture tactics should they be captured, as the enemy will be a lot more willing to engage similar or worse practices upon an enemy that employs these methods. It's a lot easier to get world opinion behind us if we're not engaged in the same activities. It requires a multi-nation coalition to convince renegade groups to abandon inhumane treatment of captives abroad. Here it only takes the will of the people and a good politician. While we are indeed fighting a ruthless enemy, so are they. We should be better than that.

“to punish or coerce by inflicting severe pain, to cause intense suffering”
Simulating Drowning is torture. It causes intense suffering. Hence the Japanese did it to American POWs in World War 2 and we prosecuted them for committing torture. It's also a clear violation of The Detainee Act passed in 2005(that means go read it).

If you want a little perspective: I bet I could waterboard any of you until you agreed with me that waterboarding is torture.

What does it matter what the politicians say in public! What they say and what they actually do is two different things,history tells us that. Treat the terrorists like they treat our POW's. Let's level the playing field.

It is hard to believe that POW71 is unaware of how a very (less than 2 minutes) short experience with water boarding for Kalid Shke Mohamed provided an enormous amount of very valuable information. According to congressional testimony that information provided our country the ability to halt and stop some future enemy operations, and provided names of other terrorist, both operatives and planners.
Secondly water boarding under no interpretation would constitute “intense suffering”. T he definition of suffering is ‘to feel or endure pain” water boarding does not create pain. Pulling out fingernails or breaking limbs creates pain. Water boarding creates great discomfort, and a great sense of anxiety, but not pain.
I was introduced to water boarding in 1967 while an infantry officer candidate. As part of our escape and evasion training, the exercise started out as first being prisoners, and subject to harsh interrogation. At some time during our stay in the mock prison camp we were given the opportunity to escape and evade further capture.

This is absolutely absurd. It was called water torture for centuries. We have prosecuted other countries for committing it as a form of torture. If it wasn't for politics, no one would be arguing to the contrary. SEER training, includes subjecting you to forms of TORTURE so that you can develop a stress threshold. Its also a clear violation of The Detainee Act of 2005(which no one obviously read). Hence we committ these crimes in secret prisons not on American shores outside of prosecution from American Courts.

Warrior is also incorrect, suffering is clearly indicated as a separate outcome from intense pain. Should read The History of Torture.

"Cutting heads off" isn't torture, it's murder (I find it somehow ironic that Kelton71 is anti-choice, yet pro torture, btw).
I find it ironic that some people claim to be pro-choice but anti death penalty! Regardless of how you feel about the abortion issue (I'm pro-choice)I believe that it can certainly be argued that the unborn are perhaps more innocent that some degenerate on death row.

I think that in extreme circumstances, non-life-threatening "torture" tactics like waterboarding may be necessary. I don't think their use should be taken lightly, nor should they be used as a regular method for obtaining information, but if it means saving hundreds or thousands of lives by providing information necessary to stop a terror attack, then I'm willing to support it. Would the rest of you say not to use waterboarding even if one of your family members' lives dependeded on the information obtained through its use? Be honest. What if there was evidence that your whole community was sure to be bombed unless we could get the information necessary to stop the attack - and the best way to get that information was to waterboard someone?

Rebecca- The question of the article isn't if torture is okay. If America is using torture methods to interrogate prisons, it is a violation of American Law.

Who says waterboarding is torture? I certainly do not consider it torture! Every one of those murderers should be waterborded at the least to get any information to save lives.

Remember: Less people have died while riding the "Waterboard" than have died riding in Democrat Senator Ted Kennedy's back seat!!!!!!!

Interesting comments from the 'pro-waterboard' crowd. A little disturbing, actually. So, if, in their opinion, waterboarding's not torture, why not volunteer to subject themselves and/or your closest family members to the 'technique' just to prove how much of a cake walk it is. What's that? No one's raising their hand. Didn't think so.

Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing a person on his or her back, with the head inclined downward, and pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages.[1] Through forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences the process of drowning in a controlled environment and is made to believe that death is imminent.[2] In contrast to merely submerging the head face-forward, waterboarding almost immediately elicits the gag reflex.[3] Although waterboarding can be performed in ways that leave no lasting physical damage, it carries the risks of extreme pain, damage to the lungs, brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation, injuries (including broken bones) due to struggling against restraints, and even death.[4] The psychological effects on victims of waterboarding can last for years after the procedure.[5]

Waterboarding has been used in interrogations at least as early as the Spanish Inquisition.[6] It has been used for interrogation purposes, to obtain information, coerce confessions, punish, and intimidate. Today it is considered to be torture by a wide range of authorities, including legal experts,[4][7] politicians,[8] war veterans,[9][10] intelligence officials,[11] military judges,[12] and human rights organizations.[13][14] Waterboarding gained recent attention and notoriety in the United States when the press reported that the CIA had used waterboarding in the interrogation of certain extrajudicial prisoners[15] and that the Justice Department had authorized this procedure.[16] The new controversy surrounded the widely reported use of waterboarding by the United States government on alleged terrorists, and whether the practice was acceptable.
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Tell me that's not torture, you stupid morons!

Many people have commented that torture is defined with the words "to punish or coerce by inflicting severe pain, to cause intense suffering" (as posted by warrior26) but from what I know of waterboarding they are forcibly held down to a board and pour water into their breathing passages to simmulate imminint death or drowning. For most people the idea of dying in such a way would be a terrible thing and would cause 'intense suffering' of the mind. Though their bones aren't being broken and their fingernails aren't being pulled out I believe that this still would be a something that would cause a mind to believe that the person who has commited them to a waterboarding had inflicted severe pain or the pain was about to come.
Another comment that some have mentioned is that we are dealing with ruthless people who would have done the same thing to prisoners they took. Still if we are calling them ruthless, must we sink down to their level? The waterboarding is, as I have stated before, in my opinion a simmulated execution which is the punishment for a crime that must be tried in court for a person to be subjected to. The people who claim it is alright may be saying that a person has no right to a trial by jury because they are simply interrogating the people for information, as is my personal opinion of what happens. I do not agree with you.

David Knowles,

There is an episode from the cult favorite "The Avengers" called "Murdersville" from 1967 heavily featuring Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. She only had two more appearances and they made the most of her time left on the series. In it, she is subjected to "waterboarding". It almost seems sexy because it is Emma Peel and we know she will survive.

But, the reality is this is just another of many lies from the Bush Administration coming to light. It obviously is torture and even taken in context on "The Avengers", it is still clearly torture. President Bush is the worst President we have had in my lifetime and it just keeps getting uglier by the day. The many lies he has told and the many liberties he has taken are breathtaking. I just stay focused on the light at the end of the tunnel.

If a candidate "categorically opposes torture", you can be sure they mean "waterboarding" as well. To state/imply otherwise seems less than honest.

Sincerely and respectfully,

Mr. Clark