digg

Join DiggAbout

Discover the best of the web!
Learn more about Digg by taking the tour.

"CIA officers 'crack' in 14 seconds during water boarding technique"

abcnews.go.com — They say they are revealing specific details of the techniques, and their impact on confessions, because the public needs to know the direction their agency has chosen. All gave their accounts on the condition that their names and identities not be revealed.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • bobthebruce123, on 10/11/2007, -8/+88FTA: They said al Qaeda's toughest prisoner, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, won the admiration of interrogators when he was able to last between two and two-and-a-half minutes before begging to confess.

    The article does not say if each of the CIA operatives confessed to begin the second gunmen on the grassy knoll or not. Though "I mean you can get anyone to confess to anything if the torture's bad enough," said former CIA officer Bob Baer....and the article highlights negative effects of such techniques.
    • timo1023, on 10/11/2007, -6/+151FTA: "The detainees were also forced to listen to rap artist Eminem's "Slim Shady" album. The music was so foreign to them it made them frantic, sources said."

      Eminem was unavailable for comment.
    • DrDragun, on 10/11/2007, -5/+73Doesn't seem that bad, until you read how it triggers your reflexes.

      It triggers you to have a violent gag reflex (in 100% of people, doesn't matter if you're tough) which completely disorients you and violently wracks your body as you spasm and pull as hard as you can against the restraints (involuntary). You also get an intense sensation of being suffocated and asphyxiation.
    • vertinox, on 10/11/2007, -5/+123The problem with torture is that the victim tells you what he thinks will make the torture stop. Often times if they don't know then they will start to make stuff up or just blurt out rumors they may or may not know the whole story on.

      If you are asking for a list of names, the victim might add people that had nothing to really do only because in that state of mind they aren't really sure and will keep talking until they hope you finally hear something that will make it stop.

      And if you torture them because you accuse them of what they are saying to be a lie... They will actually start to believe that what is really true is false.

      Also if you accuse them of something they did not do, they will also start to believe they committed the crime as well even if is completely false.
    • merlingen, on 10/11/2007, -80/+8That's why torture should only be used as a punishment.
    • Haohmaru, on 10/11/2007, -51/+4@DrDragun
      Are you volunteering tough guy?
    • DrDragun, on 10/11/2007, -6/+43oh yeah of course I can resist this torture, I am so tough I know how to suppress my gag reflex like no one. O wait i mean.....


      damn
    • roodammy44, on 10/11/2007, -13/+77Torture is always wrong.
      People will say whatever you want them to say if you torture them.

      I think I can say this for europe that we are ashamed at how america is turning from the hope of freedom and rights into a torturous facist state.
    • Haohmaru, on 10/11/2007, -1/+26Even with the knowledge it won't kill you or cause any damage you crack in seconds. That's pretty scary stuff.
    • Eilarais, on 10/11/2007, -14/+25@merlingen

      Sick *****.
    • Destruckt, on 10/11/2007, -55/+11Just because it's having a lot of negative effects does not mean it is the wrong thing to do, you can't bribe them with pancakes and orange juice and expect them to give in and tell all. What else is there to do? These people are threatening not just the American Government(which I'm not to fond of.) but this isn't just for them, it's also for the people. I know I have no right as a Canadian to comment on American affairs, but I have to say even though the CIA has done a lot of wrong, not all of their intentions are money.
    • flernk, on 10/11/2007, -6/+68Aren't we missing a basic element of our own Constitution?

      This is cruel and unusual.
    • TexMurphy, on 10/11/2007, -6/+35Bush should be impeached for these crimes. Neocons have no morrality. The people that say torture is not bad are usually the same people who never go to wars for there country because there spineless.
      .
      Video of water boarding by ex Vets that went through US army SERE's.
      http://www.current.tv/pods/controversy/PD04399
    • superal1394, on 10/11/2007, -7/+10Wow, this is sick

      but I would love to see the water boarding technique done on 24
    • DoomII, on 10/11/2007, -18/+16THE USA HAS TORTURE! EUROPE DOESN'T!

      Score another one for the EU:)


      Still, I think, if the USA had REAL balls, they'd just maim people. Put iron bars on asses, rip out tongues, toenails. All the classic stuff:P I mean, thisi s just hypocritical
    • cdcdark, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9Sorry for comment abuse, but heres a video example http://youtube.com/watch?v=EdswfKFt4wo and another http://youtube.com/watch?v=c2Xd0Q2Auz4
    • cawpin, on 10/11/2007, -16/+3I am really having a tough time understanding this. It just doesn't seem that bad. As long as I'm not actually drowning or being suffocated, why would it feel so?
    • SecondGuesser, on 10/11/2007, -14/+4It is widely known that CIA officers have subjected themselves to waterboarding in the past to test their strength. Also, it is used to train many military personnel.

      So my question is this. If the technique is used in training, then how can it be considered torture? At the very least, we should agree that if it is a valuable experience in training combat-ready soldiers, then it should be permissible as an interrogation technique for prisoners of war, and especially permissible for illegal combatants.
    • stepnw1f, on 10/11/2007, -2/+17Only stupid people fall for that notion that torture is a dependable means to gaining intelligence. For others it's obviously a power trip, which says alot about the psychi of those advocating torture. People being tortured will say anything to stop the pain.

      I swear, everything this sick/evil administration has done, has emboldened the "enemy" and created more radicals. I really do think it was their number one agenda, to create a never-ending war.... and man has it been profitable for the wealthy, so profitable our country is in the largest debt in US history, while at the same time, enjoying tax referrals that the poor and middle class have to pay. Heckuva job in bilking American tax payers and rewarding sociopaths.

      One thing you have to wonder, is what these freaks do in their spare time.....
    • Cl1mh4224rd, on 10/11/2007, -11/+3> "It is widely known that CIA officers have subjected themselves to waterboarding in the past to test their strength. Also, it is used to train many military personnel.

      So my question is this. If the technique is used in training, then how can it be considered torture?"

      We also gas our troops during basic training. That doesn't mean it's a mere inconvenience to our enemies.
    • zybch, on 10/11/2007, -7/+13@superal1394 "Wow, this is sick - but I would love to see the water boarding technique done on 24"

      I'd love to see it done on George W Bush and his buddy Cheney!
    • spawnfree, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9Cl1mh4224rd

      it may not cause any long term physical damage, but the process is so insufferably horrible that it could lead to someone confessing that they were the tooth fairy if it were done for a long enough time.

      if the technique was to extract time-crucial information from a suspect then it may be practical, but to extract a confession it is useless.

      There can be no better process that the evaluation of intelligence to convict or punish someone, after it goes through an unbiased court.

      this raises allot of questions.
      questions such as; if current intelligence is good enough to thwart this 'incoming tide of terrorism' ever since 9/11 (have there been any other successful attacks on US Soil?), why are people being tortured AT ALL.

      Should these techniques continue i do think it would be fun to put the current US administration through it, live on national TV, and see what we can learn about what is really going on.
    • sizbo, on 10/11/2007, -10/+2Sorry, but the argument that people will say anything to get out of being tortured is just a fallacy.

      One of the things an interrogator must be good at is getting inside the mind of his subject, breaking his conscious mind, leaving him unable to lie. Believe it or not, some people are really good at telling when someone is lying to them.

    • BeyondGoodNEvil, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10"Khalid Sheik Mohammed, won the admiration of interrogators when he was able to last between two and two-and-a-half minutes before begging to confess."

      I just don't get it. For something that CIA officers can only take for 14 seconds, this guy tolerated for 150 seconds, then begged to confess. I mean, for that huge amount of time, why would he suddenly crack. Just seems that anyone who would do it more than a minute would never give in.
    • gamemaker, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3Dr. Dragon wrote: "Doesn't seem that bad, until you read how it triggers your reflexes.

      It triggers you to have a violent gag reflex (in 100% of people, doesn't matter if you're tough) which completely disorients you and violently wracks your body as you spasm and pull as hard as you can against the restraints (involuntary). You also get an intense sensation of being suffocated and asphyxiation."

      It is really bad, but I think you may be just slightly exaggerating the results of listening to Eminem's Slim Shady.
    • IMustBeEmo, on 10/11/2007, -5/+12Every day I feel so stupid living in a country that is quite obviously the laughingstock of the rest of the world.

      If only I could move... =[
    • smartass007, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3@ roodammy44

      "I think I can say this for europe that we are ashamed at how america is turning from the hope of freedom and rights into a torturous facist state."

      that's what happens when you're the only superpower left standing...
    • StopTheLie, on 10/11/2007, -4/+9So, if we "Water Boarded" President Bush and he confessed to complicity in the attacks of 9/11; would that be enough to execute him?

      Again, would those same people who tout the value of "tough interrogation techniques" consider Bush's confession valid? Would they support his execution for high treason against America based on it alone? -No, somehow I think they'd realize the confession, under those circumstances, doesn't mean JACK *****. …Imagine that.
    • Osjpr, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2Alberto Gonzalez is my pick for torture.
    • nerdtron, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1That's so crazy how violently it affects you. I almost want to try it just to see what it's like. It doesn't seem like it should be all that bad so I'm really curious as to the how and why of it all. Incredible the amount of time an effort we have put into finding ways to hurt other people- who even thought to try something like this?
    • KalvinCoolEdge, on 10/11/2007, -4/+3Here are my thoughts.
      As a fellow canadian, i feel obliged to digg up Destruckt, plus what he said was polite and not entirely incorrect.
      somedigger5 was being needlessly offensive. don't digg that up guys.
      Water boarding sounds horrible. My conscience and logic tell me it's wrong, but 24 tells me it's alright sometimes.
    • carleethian, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4torture is only ok if Jack Bauer is the torturer
    • smellytim, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4I wonder if a porn star would be able to survive water boarding for a while because they are pretty used to getting around the gag reflex. but seriously that sounds pretty sick.
    • murty, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3Apparently sword swallower's train to control their gag-reflex. But then again there are only like 50 registered sword swallowers, and i doubt any of them are going to be a terrorist. But, stranger things have happened...
    • tritiumpie, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1uhmmm... why does abcnews have to put out articles on go.com?

      /just curious why they don't have their own url
  • mwsherman, on 10/11/2007, -6/+118I can't wait to try out this water boarding thing on my friends.
    • Junkyarddawg, on 10/11/2007, -4/+116Remember to tape it and post to youtube.
    • wicketr, on 10/11/2007, -9/+21Seriously, please do.
    • Shaman760, on 10/11/2007, -0/+21That'll be great! Kids waterboarding themselves for fun.....until someone dies....then it will be made illegal and again, the hypocrisy of our government will be shone to light.
    • bram, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11Make sure you get it right. Wikipedia has a pretty good instructional >>
      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_Boarding
    • pailsOfGrease, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7Great idea, I hear it causes INCREDIBLE ORGASMS


      ...in the interrogators at least.
    • Grouser, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5We'll take turns. You go first.
  • maskidat, on 10/11/2007, -17/+4"torture light"?
    • freddyisnot, on 10/11/2007, -8/+2Works better than a Grow Light.
    • fantasticFlan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4That's horrible branding, should have gone with "lite", give it some of that modern shine.
  • Junkyarddawg, on 10/11/2007, -7/+125"ABC News was told that the techniques led to questionable information aimed at pleasing the interrogators and that this information had a significant impact on U.S. actions in Iraq."

    Yep. That's why torture was abandoned in Europe in the 17th century: not because it was inhumane, but because it produced unreliable intel. Torture is great if what you want is a confession and you don't care if the person confessing is really guilty or not - showtrial stuff - but useless if you want to extract tactical information.
    • Homunculiheaded, on 10/11/2007, -2/+42"Power is not a means; it is an end. One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship. The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?"-1984

      Torture is purely an exercise of power, plain and simple. To talk about it as anything but is a diversion.
    • Terr01, on 10/11/2007, -12/+3That's only because Jack Bauer, Rambo, Casey Ryback, Walker-Texas-Ranger, all carry a +5 class stat to badassitude.
    • KiTchMe, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11Using harsh interrogation/torture techniques is as moral as patenting those techniques and profiting from their use. Very depressing times.
    • DoomII, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11@ Homunculiheaded

      Dugg for 1984 goodness!

      I know people who think of the book as a warning to communism, this is partially os. In my opinion, it's more of a warning to any dictatorship in any form. One can easily draw the lines from current day usa to the message in Orwell's fiction.
    • L0t3k, on 10/11/2007, -8/+3I'm going to be the asshat.

      I can see why torture would often lead to false confessions, but I see that being the case when you're looking for a confession.

      If you know that someone has specific information, like the whereabouts of a particular object, I'd imagine that torture techniques like waterboarding (yes, it sounds like torture alright) might actually get you what you need.

      I'm not condoning it, or saying it's alright if it happens overseas, or behind my back... I'm only considering the otherwise moot point, its potential effectiveness.
  • maskidat, on 10/11/2007, -5/+61McCain: "It's not about terrorists, it's about us. It's about what kind of country we are."

    And when I hear otherwise-normal people comment about wanting to "torture 'those people' myself" I get nervous...
    • michael1406, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1A company that makes chips said that?
    • Grouser, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Dershowitz' idea that there should be accountability, like a "torture warrant", has merit. We normally think of torture of people known to be terrorists, but when it is done without accountability, it is too easy to include people who "might know something". And then there is torture as a form of state terrorism to discourage dissent. This has been done in South America for years. Torture warrants would reduce the likelihood of that happening.

      Did you notice in the Republican debate, when the question about torture was asked, not one of the candidates asked whether the people to be tortured were U.S. citizens?

      Personally, if I was tortured when innocent, I would make it my life's work to hunt down and kill every member of the team that tortured me. So I imagine waterboarding and other "enhanced interrogation" techniques are engendering some rather extreme reactions. There *will* be blow-back from this.
  • Dantehman17, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4this was on nightline or something last year I'm pretty sure. I remember seeing them demonstrate the water boarding method.
    • zybch, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Was that where their lame 'reporter' chickened out before any water was actually poured on him??
  • Tyorant, on 10/11/2007, -8/+70If I had to listen to too much of Eminem's "Slim Shady" album i'd confess too.
    • merdiesel, on 10/11/2007, -21/+5I loved that album.
    • teeks99, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15Sorry, no more slim shady...it was recently outlawed as a method of torture by an update to the Geneva Convention.
  • scarebear, on 10/11/2007, -41/+8BURIED
    2005
    • kevin_qnn, on 10/11/2007, -6/+24cause the fact that its 2 years old means that it is no longer true, interesting, or relevant
    • scarebear, on 10/11/2007, -36/+8yeah it does, it means i read about it 2 years ago... yawn more stupid ***** on digg
    • manifestdata, on 10/11/2007, -25/+7Dude, its almost voting time. These kids will bring up anything again. Its only a dupe if it doesn't have anything to do with Apple, Ron Pual, anti-Bush stuff, and butt lube.
    • calgone, on 10/11/2007, -21/+3@scarebear
      GAY
      2007
    • colouredlights, on 10/11/2007, -12/+3I'm sure Eminem says something about butt lube.
    • robdiggity, on 10/11/2007, -5/+51Just curious: at what age does something lose relevance? One year? Six months? Is it that you aren't entertained by it any longer ? Has its novelty gone stale?

      Declaration of Independence? Stale. Men walking on the moon? Stale. Holocaust? Boring. Mainstream use of torture? Ho-hum.

      Your birth? Snore.

      You are the physical manifestation of why we are failing right now as human beings.
    • Terr01, on 10/11/2007, -1/+17How can a topic mentioned so prominently in the 2007 Republican primary debates be irrelevant?
    • bjornski, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8It's only irrelevant to the ignorant.
    • Wacer, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Congress may have passed law stating that the United States can't use torture methods that are a "grave breaches" of the Geneva Convention but they left it up to the president to decide what a grave breach is.
  • newspaperboy, on 10/11/2007, -20/+1whats all this about i am new to digg
  • Godwhacker, on 10/11/2007, -9/+55JFK once said "There is little value in the survival of our nation if it's traditions do not survive with it."

    This is disgusting. America, how low you have fallen.
    • kaiser44, on 10/11/2007, -18/+5@godwhacker, please leave Gods pecker alone.
    • Wargalas, on 10/11/2007, -12/+2Oh yes, like how we were just insanely popular before this news came out. It was all sunshine and rainbows for the US right before Iraq and Guantanamo Bay right?
    • ggfergu, on 10/11/2007, -17/+6I agree. America has 'fallen pretty low' and rendered itself impotent when we worry more about offending the poor wittle terrorists ears with 'Slim Shady' than our own national security, and the security of the free world in general.

      Muslim extremist thugs are not going to respond to diplomatic pillow talk.

      I would fully expect a regime to waterboard a confession out of me if they felt that the security of their children's future depended on information I had. Hell, I'd expect them to kill me if they thought it was that important. I think we've shown extreme constraint.
    • engwar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+13"Muslim extremist thugs are not going to respond to diplomatic pillow talk."

      The only answer to terror is for the moderates on our side to work with the moderates on their site to tackle the real, fundamental issues and problems we have. Start making progress towards real solutions and the extremists lose their support because people could start to see and end in site.

      Most people just want jobs, peace and a normal life. Pity that the extremists on both sides seem to the ones in the driver's seat.
    • Pfhreak, on 10/11/2007, -0/+16"I would fully expect a regime to waterboard a confession out of me if they felt that the security of their children's future depended on information I had."

      Here's the problem with your argument: torture has been demonstrated, repeatedly over the course of centuries, to be unreliable. The person being tortured will tell you whatever he thinks he needs to make you stop, whether it's true or not, which makes it useless as an information extraction technique. All it's useful for is letting cruel people get their jollies, and getting somebody to confess to anything, even if that confession is false.

      The full argument agains torture boils down to: torture is inhumane, illegal, and useless. Much as you proponents of torture like to focus on the inhumane part to label us pansy-assed wusses, there's still two other points you mostly ignore.
    • Wargalas, on 10/11/2007, -2/+1@engwar

      Let's not forget that the 9/11 attackers ALL had jobs, homes, and families. They were just fanatical assholes who decided to wreck havoc on the world.
    • engwar, on 10/11/2007, -0/+0Exactly my point, wargalas.

      The 9/11 hijackers weren't 'most people'. They were extremists. And we shouldn't allow people like that to keep the moderates from solving the real problems.
  • newspaperboy, on 10/11/2007, -14/+0explain
  • kruykaze, on 10/11/2007, -22/+314 seconds? I am certainly misunderstanding: everybody can hold they're breath longer than that.
    • MichaelBradley, on 10/11/2007, -1/+21have you ever had to hold your breath 14 seconds while you were thinking you were about to die?
    • SuperCUBE, on 10/11/2007, -1/+20I'm sure you would last even less if you noticed "Oh *****. I'm going to die"
    • DrDragun, on 10/11/2007, -3/+12It triggers you to have a violent gag reflex (in 100% of people, doesn't matter if you're tough) which completely disorients you and violently wracks your body as you pull as hard as you can against the restraints (involuntary). You also get an intense sensation of being suffocated and asphyxiation.
    • dillonstars, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6it's not about holding your breath per se. its about thinking you're drowning and the gag reflex kicking in... you can't hold your breath if your gagging
    • unusualbob, on 10/11/2007, -18/+4this method is just made to scare the suspect. I dont think it is torture, just uncomfortable. Most ppl like breathing.
    • DangerMouse9, on 10/11/2007, -3/+4@unusualbob

      Let's all do it to you and see how you feel about it.
  • newspaperboy, on 10/11/2007, -7/+1i thught they were the cia
  • catalysis, on 10/11/2007, -24/+5"Doctors consulted advised against using a punch, which could cause lasting internal damage."

    I wonder what they say about cutting heads off with swords.
    • bolerobell, on 10/11/2007, -1/+28Are you implying that if an insurgent kidnaps an American (well, really any westerner) and beheads them, that it gives us permission to torture people in our custody that are not necessarily responsible for such beheadings?

      I don't think that "you are responsible for the crimes of your neighbor" has ever been the law in any country at any time.

      Beyond that though, I do not adhere to the school of thought that states that because our enemies act like barbarians, we are allowed to. I hope most other Americans feel the same way.
    • fantasticFlan, on 10/11/2007, -0/+11We're supposed to be better than terrorists. That's why this is such a screaming mad outrage, America is supposed to be better.
  • DiggzDE, on 10/11/2007, -9/+2Down already.
    • xxTazxx, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Its the ABC news website...even a D/E couldn't take it down without a fight!
  • repins, on 10/11/2007, -6/+17Only the last two are really extreme and could cause physical harm, the rest are not even close. I do not consider grabbing someone shirt and shaking them torture....I guess some people never played high school foot ball.
  • edebolt, on 10/11/2007, -11/+1yeah that is just fun between friends... role playing



  • g2g079, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8Just to clarify, waterboarding is a form of torture in which they strap you to a table with your legs slightly higher than your head, they place a towel on your head and pour water on you. It makes you feal as if your drowning. Try it out with a friend, its not fun.
    • TyphoidTimmy, on 10/11/2007, -4/+8I did it once....it really depends on the individual actually.

      In my 'torture', I responded to give it a try after someone explained it in a class I was in. They held my arms and feet in place as they wrapped a towel tightly around my head and poured the water over it just like they said. I was told to give a word of banana when I wanted to be let go.

      If you have any claustrophobia, it would immediately be bad for you. The sensation is beyond surreal and made me very uneasy. I would not say 'drowning' but definitely something akin to it.

      BUT....if a person can 'detach' themselves enough, they will make it through it. I imagined a past experience with a sensory deprivation chamber and kind of zoned out. I was let go after a couple of minutes because I had not said anything and scared the hell out of the professor when they pulled the towel off me and my 'pupils were dilated'.

      Maybe we were doing it wrong....the 'plastic wrap' they are using would definitely not make me want to try it.
    • my4boyz, on 10/11/2007, -4/+2does it work the same if the pour beer on you?
    • Gaki, on 10/11/2007, -0/+8@ typhoidtimmy

      Not the same at all.

      For one, the most effective aspect of torture is the removal of free will. You CHOSE to be put on the board and that made a difference to how you approached it, mentally. Secondly, plastic wrap means you can breathe while a cloth might just allow it, even when wet. Thirdly, you went in knowing that people where there to pull you out should something happen. Do you think the victims had a safe word like banana?

      Let a bunch of goons abduct you off the street and do it to you and we'll talk.
  • theolane, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9dugg to avoid anymore time on the rack
  • Dou6, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11This is all well and good. But the real interrogations and torture are going on in other countries. What happens is we drop these guys off with an ally that has no such "anti torture" laws, then pick em up when they are done.
  • madfusion15, on 10/11/2007, -13/+4well these cia ***** are americans, and we all know that americans are some of the largest known human vaginas
  • NCg8r, on 10/11/2007, -2/+8I could make you speak Chinese if I had enough time and the proper tools. Not saying that it would make sense to a Chinese person, but you'd be speaking it either way... Torture should be left to the KGB and the Nazzies (kilt me fiddy men!) and not self-proclaimed Christians...
  • skyfire1, on 10/11/2007, -1/+17In tv shows like 24 they depend their lives on the tortured suspect. IRL the suspect could just lie and everyone dies. That's why torture never works.
  • loveandrockets, on 10/11/2007, -1/+31I remember watching a show about a Nazi interrogator who used--get this--civilized conversation--to get information.

    One time the Nazis wanted to know why RAF planes began shooting red bullet tracers. The SS wanted to torture people but this interrogator took an RAF pilot out for a walk. They talked about all sorts of things unrelated to the war until finally the interrogator asked why RAF planes shot red tracers. The pilot said "Oh, that tells us we have 100 rounds left."

    The interrogator then released the information to the Luftwaffe.

    I guess this administration isn't interested in history or even the History Channel. well, maybe they are. Some of those techniques were perfected by the SS. Standing without relief was called the "Little Ease" and was very effective.
  • pktgumby, on 10/11/2007, -1/+11Damn, just reading the description of water boarding made me confess a whole bunch of crap.

    Good thing nobody was around to hear me.
  • popothebright, on 10/11/2007, -11/+1Let's be honest about something: An interrogation without fear and intimidation is useless.

    • xxTazxx, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4But this fear and intimidation cannot be illegal and cannot cause permanent psychological or physical harm to the person being interrogated.
  • MichaelBradley, on 10/11/2007, -1/+10I think the major point being forgotten is that torture doesnt give correct information. Someone being tortured enough will tell you anything to get it to stop, regardless of whether its true or not. Hell they may not know a damn thing, but if they are under enough stress from torture they will get very creative real quick.
  • MisterFlaut, on 10/11/2007, -1/+8Haha, any moron knows that torture is ineffective.

    I could take an innocent person and torture them and get them to confess to killing JFK if I wanted. A person will confess just to get the pain to stop even if they had nothing to do with it. Then you end up going on bad leads and in the end, you get absolutely nowhere... the same spot you'd be either way.

    Plus, I think any smart prisoner would give a variation of the truth to stop the torture. "Tell us where your base is." "North Mountains" when really it's in, say, "South Mountains."

    It stops the torture and makes the interrogators waste their time on false leads. If they want info, they won't kill the prisoner. They'd torture again, but this time you give another false lead. Repeat.

    From not only a moral, but a practical standpoint, torture is pretty horrible. It'd be best to use mental manipulation. Gain their trust, or maybe act like you kidnapped their family.
  • gruvsf, on 10/11/2007, -1/+2crap-I would say that flying saucers came and told me to do it or anything they wanted me to admit to if they waterboarded me! Not all that reliable for getting hard evidence, but I am sure that the interrogators get a lot of satisfaction out of it.
    • Wacer, on 10/11/2007, -0/+2I am sure the ones who stay in the business of it for the government are probably a little on the sadistic side and don't care if they get reliable information.
  • J0hnS, on 10/11/2007, -11/+0Were you guys asleep 2.5 years ago when this was actually relevant?
    • bjornski, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4Did you fall asleep 2.5 years ago and not realize that this is still relevant?

  • Scyth3, on 10/11/2007, -2/+6Dugg this just because it's the most interesting thing I've read this week. A very well written article!
  • bg785, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7wow what does this say about us? we have institutionalized torture and it really has created much outrage. we torture people! wtf! what happened to hating the soviets because they used gulags. now we are actually using the same gulags that they used! wow hyprocrisy at its best. you know this just goes to show how easily a country can descend into darkness. people always wondered how could the germans do what they did? well the reason is because the government said it was for national security!!! just like they are doing now. and now the USA is torturing people. we need to get loud about this issue and not become what we thought we would never be.
    • lubacious, on 10/11/2007, -3/+1You were THIS close to not Godwinning yourself but, alas...
  • jerryn, on 10/11/2007, -12/+0You gotta do what you gotta do. And sometimes there's no other way.
    • mille716, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7There ARE other ways. More effective ways too.
  • igoratwork, on 10/11/2007, -7/+2And here I thought they would show video of boarding a boat in 14 seconds...
  • vguard, on 10/11/2007, -2/+10People who don't have a functional concept of personal dignity, find these techniques acceptable. Supporting these policies says volumes about ones character.
  • Ramble, on 10/11/2007, -1/+6Jesus that is disgusting.
  • AsylumAleikum, on 10/11/2007, -18/+3Waterboarding is a safe and effective interrogating technique, and should be used more often.

    • pintomp3, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7judging by your comment history, i'm assuming you weren't being sarcastic. judging by your comment, i'm also assuming you have never had it done to you.
  • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2Did they article mention anything about the use of the belly slap (actual technique) or the dead leg (peroneal strike)?
    • MWeather, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3Yes, the article mentioned the beatings.
    • dotlizard, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3perhaps you might consider reading TFA? just a thought. (because yes, they did, quite prominently)
    • Junkyarddawg, on 10/11/2007, -0/+7The peroneal strike isn't allowed any more, though, after, among other, this incident:

      "Dilawar, a taxi driver, was detained in December 2002 as he drove past a US base that had earlier come under rocket attack. Passengers he had picked up were carrying suspicious items.

      Spc Corey Jones, an interrogator, told investigators that Dilawar spat in his face. He responded with a couple of knee strikes.

      'He screamed out, 'Allah! Allah! Allah!' and my first reaction was that he was crying out to his God,' Spc Jones said. 'Everybody heard him cry out and thought it was funny.' The report says it became a running joke and prison guards kicked Dilawar just to hear him scream 'Allah'. 'It went on over a 24-hour period, and I would think that it was over 100 strikes,' he said.

      During an interrogation, the severely injured Dilawar begged a translator to get him a doctor. The translator says he told the interrogators, but one replied: 'He's OK. He's just trying to get out of his restraints.'

      An autopsy found that Dilawar died of heart failure caused by 'blunt force injuries to the lower extremities'. The coroner, Lieutenant-Colonel Elizabeth Rouse, told a pre-trial hearing that his legs 'had basically been pulpified ... I've seen similar injuries in an individual run over by a bus.' "

      http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20050521/ai_n14636251


      And, as it turned out, Dilawar was probably completely innocent.
    • patch6, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1Those interrogators should be made an example of.
      Not tortured though, since that just triggers a never ending cycle of vengenace.
  • kaiser44, on 10/11/2007, -15/+4R.Paul lasted under water for 3 hours and 42 minutes.
    When they let him up he asked for more.
    • roywaits, on 02/02/2008, -3/+6STFU already
    • noamsml, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5No he didn't, and he wouldn't. Shut the ***** up.
    • bjornski, on 10/11/2007, -0/+3You realize you are helping destroy R.Pauls reputation with comments like that?

      He'll have just as much electability as that running joke Chuck Norris.

      Please. Continue....
    • Junkyarddawg, on 10/11/2007, -1/+4If you give terrorists the choice of a slap from Ron Paul or years of torture, they'll chose torture!

      When Ron Paul becomes president, he'll disband the Army. If the US was attacked, they'd just get in his way!

      When Ron Paul becomes president, there'll be no immigration issues: mexicans will be too scared to come here!

  • Swift2, on 10/11/2007, -0/+14Seriously, Vladimir Bukovsky, the Soviet dissident, was tortured in a psychiatric prison the the Soviet Union. He made the point in an op-ed in the Washington Post that the "criminals" at the Moscow Trials, the ones who confessed to every crime possible, were tortured with these same techniques. Stalin didn't have the balls to call it "enhanced interrogation," that's all.

    The Soviets didn't want to leave marks, because that would make the public trial bad propaganda. So they kept the lights on, kept them awake, naked and cold, threatened them with death, and questioned them around the clock until they would say anything. Once they had signed confessions, they let them sleep and eat enough to look decent at the trial where they confessed to every dastardly, treasonous crime possible. "Confess and we'll be lenient," they said. Then they took them back to Lubyanka, let them hang around for another few weeks until Comrade Stalin decided he was finished with them, and then they shot them.
  • uttles, on 10/11/2007, -12/+3Wow, sounds like an effective technique. We should be using this as much as possible.
  • sinnuendo, on 10/11/2007, -3/+3FTFA: "The detainees were also forced to listen to rap artist Eminem's 'Slim Shady' album." Terrifying indeed.
  • The_Dude, on 10/11/2007, -4/+1So you have plastic wrapped around your head and the water is pouring on you. Does it just "trick" your gag reflex because you see water flowing at you? Must be, because how else are you gagging on water that isn't even going down your throat?
  • Bahimiron, on 10/11/2007, -3/+2I was honestly hoping this would reveal the insider secrets of the CIA's classified surfing stunts.
  • matthewmok, on 10/11/2007, -9/+1Pussies.
  • FriedTurkey, on 10/11/2007, -1/+15The problem is that tortured prisoners will confess to anything. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed confessed to the following:

    * The 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center in New York City
    * A failed "shoe bomber" operation
    * The October 2002 attack in Kuwait
    * The nightclub bombing in Bali, Indonesia
    * A plan for a "second wave" of attacks on major U.S. landmarks including the Library Tower in Los Angeles, the Sears Tower in Chicago, the Plaza Bank building in Seattle and the Empire State Building in New York
    * Plots to attack oil tankers and U.S. naval ships in the Straits of Hormuz, the Straits of Gibraltar and in Singapore
    * A plan to blow up the Panama Canal
    * Plans to assassinate former U.S. presidents
    * A plot to blow up suspension bridges in New York City
    * A plan to destroy the Sears Tower in Chicago with burning fuel trucks
    * Plans to "destroy" Heathrow Airport, Canary Wharf and Big Ben in London
    * A planned attack on "many" nightclubs in Thailand
    * A plot targeting the New York Stock Exchange and other U.S. financial targets
    * A plan to destroy buildings in Elat, Israel
    * Plans to destroy U.S. embassies in Indonesia, Australia and Japan
    * Plots to destroy Israeli embassies in India, Azerbaijan, the Philippines and Australia
    * Surveying and financing an attack on an Israeli El-Al flight from Bangkok
    * Sending several "mujahideen" into Israel to survey "strategic targets" with the intention of attacking them
    * The November 2002 suicide bombing of a hotel in Mombasa, Kenya
    * The failed attempt to shoot down an Israeli passenger jet leaving Mombasa airport
    * Plans to attack U.S. targets in South Korea
    * Providing financial support for a plan to attack U.S., British and Jewish targets in Turkey
    * Surveillance of U.S. nuclear power plants in order to attack them
    * A plot to attack Nato's headquarters in Europe
    * Planning and surveillance in a 1995 plan (the "Bojinka Operation") to bomb 12 American passenger jets
    * The planned assassination attempt against then-U.S. President Bill Clinton during a mid-1990s trip to the Philippines.
    * "Shared responsibility" for a plot to kill Pope John Paul II
    * Plans to assassinate Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf
    * An attempt to attack a U.S. oil company in Sumatra, Indonesia, "owned by the Jewish former [U.S.] Secretary of State Henry Kissinger"
    * The beheading of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl

    Either this guy is a genius super villian or maybe he just confessed to anything to stop the torture. Tortured confessions don't mean anything. The evidence received from torture is always questionable. It's not worth losing the moral high ground for dubious evidence.
    • kaiser44, on 10/11/2007, -11/+1@friedturkey who are we loosing the moral high ground to?
    • FriedTurkey, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7@KAISER44 - who are we loosing the moral high ground to?

      Losing the moral high ground to terrorist by going down to their level. Most people support torture out of some kind of revenge level. It really isn't rational at all. Terrorist want America to sink to the moral level of torture where they reside. American torture is also an effective recruiting tool for terrorists. The Abu Ghraib pictures probably brought in more money and soldiers than it was worth.
    • BohicaTwentyTwo, on 10/11/2007, -5/+3WHAT I CAN'T HEAR YOU! THE COGNITIVE DISSONANCE IS DEAFENING!
    • DangerMouse9, on 10/11/2007, -1/+3@KAISER44

      Are you a retard? I mean seriously, are you trying to justify the use of torture because of a few extremists? Are you really that demented? Do you live in such fear that you want to obliterate anyone that is different from you?

      Why is it so wrong to think we should try to be above those that we're supposedly out there dying and killing for? Most of the rest of the world already hates the US, why give them more reason to try to seek revenge? If we gave the prisoners the same respect to life that we ourselves would like if the roles were reversed then maybe we'd have a few less enemies.

      But, let's all listen to you and throw morals and ethics out the window when dealing with someone of the same ethnicity as someone else that committed a heinous crime. Hell, let's round up all the German people and gas them since Hitler killed the Jews. While we're at it, let's round up everyone of every faith and give them all thousands upon thousands of tiny incisions with a dull scalpel for all the crimes against humanity that the people of the Dark Ages and beyond committed.

      I really hope you're not that ***** stupid but I have a strong feeling that you're going to further let down my hopes for mankind's humanity.
  • mille716, on 10/11/2007, -1/+7Wasn't there a video of some guy on Fox news being waterboarded?...and crying? Some has to find that.
  • mikebiglan, on 10/11/2007, -2/+9I'm sure most of you have seen the fox news reporter getting water boarded. His conclusion was that it was bad but that he had no lasting harm -- so how bad is it really.

    He failed to point out that (1) he got to choose when it stopped (2) he knew they would stop when he asked (3) he knew they would not kill him. I can only imagine what his reaction would have been if he had thought they were willing to kill him. Would he have flashbacks from that trauma for the rest of his life? What kind of hatred would he have for those people and everything they stand for?

    When US agencies torture, they are doing it in the name of America. And the vast majority of Americans have made it clear that we think it is wrong.
    • kaiser44, on 10/11/2007, -9/+1@mikebiglan no one ever asked me, when did they ask you?
    • Gaki, on 10/11/2007, -0/+5Kaiser, you are an idiot.

      Polls, moron, polls. They don't always ask YOU specifically, but they get a damn good idea of the public will by asking enough people that, statistically, the results can be very accurately generalized to the larger population.

      Of course, some people will always buck the polls. I hope to God I never live on your street.
    • Junkyarddawg, on 10/11/2007, -0/+4...and even though the reporter knew they wouldn't really kill him, even though he knew he could tap out whenever he wanted, he lasted a grand total of three seconds.
  • CeeJayDK, on 10/11/2007, -1/+9How do these people explain their families that their job is to torture people ?
    • bardamuclichy, on 10/11/2007, -3/+8The same way all Americans think they're the 'good guys' in every situation.
    • Wacer, on 10/11/2007, -2/+5@bardamuclichy "The same way all Americans think they're the 'good guys' in every situation."

      Thats what is portrayed in a lot of the media and the government, but your wrong when your stating 'All Americans'.
    • salinemist, on 10/11/2007, -10/+1I bet Abortion doctors don't have big families but the kids they do have are well behaved.
    • anonym41414, on 10/11/2007, -0/+1"The same way all Americans think they're the 'good guys' in every situation."

      That's a dumb statement. Everybody always believes he's the good guy in every situation. Otherwise, people wouldn't do what they do. The old saying goes that the villain is the hero in his own mind.

      That's why moral questions, like whether to torture prisoners, are so complicated. There aren't any easy answers. Saying "torture is wrong always" is just as silly as saying "torture is okay always." But what's just as silly as both of those is the guy who thinks because he can unravel "torture is wrong always" with a contrived hypothetical that torture must be okay. It's not black and white, man. It's complicated.
  • jasperwillem, on 10/11/2007, -2/+4Unbelievable that this is reallity ...
    • salinemist, on 10/11/2007, -6/+2Oh yeah, this is the absolute worst that humanity has ever perpetrated upon itself. [eye roll]
  • Fetching more discussions...
    Show 51 - 100 of 108 discussions
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.