What is waterboarding?
Waterboarding is a form of torture that involves the use of water to coerce a prisoner or detainee into a confession. The victim is tied to an inclined board that positions the head lower than the feet. A piece of cloth is then secured over the victim’s face. Water is poured over the cloth, and the victim begins to experience difficulty breathing. Waterboarding proves particularly effective in that fear of asphyxiation often leads the victim to panic and beg for the torture to cease. Routine interrogations that normally may take days produce results in minutes when waterboarding is used.
Perhaps you have seen news coverage regarding the issue of “waterboarding”, heard the word mentioned more than a few times as of late? It has been called torture by some. Others insist it’s an effective interrogation technique used on terrorism suspects or detainees. Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy is pushing to have former President George Bush’s administration investigated regarding that administration possibly “authorizing torture”.
First we need to understand what waterboarding is. Here is an excerpt from Wikipedia: “Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing a person on their back with the head inclined downward (the Trendelenburg position), and pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. Through forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences the process of drowning and is made to believe that death is imminent. In contrast to merely submerging the head face-forward, waterboarding almost immediately elicits the gag reflex Although waterboarding does not always cause 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. The psychological effects on victims of waterboarding can last for years after the procedure.” Waterboarding is guaranteed to be topic of the national debates this fall. Where do
