Waterboarding

I was shifting through torture articles online when I came across a piece in Vanity Fair magazine called "Believe Me, It's Torture". The article recounted how one of the magazine's writers, Christopher Hitchens, subjected himself to waterboarding to experience firsthand what it would be like to undergo the process. At the time this piece was written in 2008 and essentially all throughout the Bush Administration, waterboarding was a highly debated subject. The main dispute over waterboarding was whether it was actually a form of torture. Waterboarding, for those who are unfamiliar with the term, is a process in which an individual is strapped to a wood board with a towel across his mouth, which is continuously soaked with water so the individual feels as though he is slowly drowning. For most people, the description of waterboarding alone would convince them that it is a form of torture, but just to drive the point home, Hitchens agreeded to undergo waterboarding and have his experience recorded for the world to see.

There were two things that really struck me with this article. The first was that Hitchens exposed a little known fact that waterboarding was actually a training method used by Americans to train other Americans to resist enemy interrogation. The United States military came up with waterboarding as a simulated form of torture that terrorist might use on Americans. The irony of this whole situation is not lost on me. How could American interrogators waterboard suspected terrorists knowing firsthand what it was like to be in the terrorists' shoes? Obviously I am not a highly trained military official but I know if I underwent a horrendous ordeal such as waterboarding, I certainly would not want anyone to go through what I went through.

The other point that stood out for me was when Hitchens briefly mentioned how waterboarding did not simulate a sense of being drowned but actually drowned the individual being waterboarded. Simulation and actuality are two completely different things. Going on a simulated amusement ride at a park, say a ride that simulates going into outer space, is not the same thing as actually going into outer space. There are a lot less risks in going on a simulated ride then in experiencing the process firsthand. Simulated rides or experiences can bring about sensations of undergoing a real life situation and thus produce similar reactions as if the situation were real, such as a person feeling afraid while watching a horror movie; however, the person in the theater watching the horror movie is in no real danger. If waterboarding goes beyond simulation, which in itself can cause severe physical and psychological problems and is morally objectible, then waterboarding needs to be eradicated.

Here is the video of Christopher Hitchens being waterboarded. Warning: This video contain some disturbing content. Here's also a link to the article: Waterboarding Article