Christopher Hitchens, the tough minded journalist and social critic, undergoes torture waterboarding for Vanity Fair and talks and writes about the experience.
Read some commentary about his effort here.
(4 votes, average: 4 out of 5)
Loading ...Well there you have it, the definitive voice has spoken. OF course, if they had used vodka on Hitchens he would still be begging for more. I notice within moments of the waterboarding stopping, Hitchens was able to function completely normal, well as normal as he ever was. That must be some serious “torture” going on when they can function completely so soon after the fact. If it was really “torture”, how could an editor ask Hitchens to go through it?
Interesting, and glad to be able to have seen it. Thanks.
Adam, are you outraged at any of the stuff Americans have been subjected to (i.e. beheadings, civilian bodies burned and strung up from bridges) or is it easier to act like Bush invented this stuff because it gets you more attention?
So I guess that means you’re volunteering for the next one, eh Si Vis? I’d be curious to see how long it took you to confess that you have a poster of George Bush in a flight suit on your wall.
Cheese, I am outraged at anyone being tortured. I think most people with consciences share this view. Surely you’re not suggesting that the United States government should adopt the same moral standards as terrorists?
“So I guess that means you’re volunteering for the next one, eh Si Vis? ”
What would the point be? We already know it is an uncomfortable experience and we know that I would be fine within minutes of it ending. Besides, I used to do beer bongs, which is similar, liquid poured over the face until the “victim” cant stand it.
How about subjecting me to loud music? Done that, grew up on metal music.
Pro longed standing? DMV line.
Sleep deprivation? 72 hours + awake while on active duty, still functioned.
Thanks for showing this. I was absolutely FOR our government using torture until I read about waterboarding and found that CIA agents have to go through it and all can’t go more than 10-20 seconds. That Pakistani man they arrested in the middle of the night a couple years ago (the picture showed him in his T-shirt and boxers, hair disheveled) won the grudging compliments of his torturers for going just over 3 minutes. I also watched a program on torture through the ages that ended with interviews of people who had been tortured recently in Africa and elsewhere. It affected them greatly and would the rest of their lives. I’m now against torture of any kind.
Adding here: I’m guessing that asking prisoners nicely for the information doesn’t work very often. I have no good suggestions to obtain the intel required.
Crying babies or whining children would have me telling them whatever they wanted to know.
Eddie Roth writes about education and social justice. He recently joined the Post-Dispatch editorial page after six years as an editorial writer with the Dayton Daily News. But he is not new to St. Louis. Eddie grew up in Webster Groves and south St. Louis County. He's a lawyer who for many years practiced with a downtown firm. He and his wife, Jeanne, and their three daughters, Emily, Julia and Alice, lived in the Shaw Neighborhood, where he was active in neighborhood affairs, and now have made it their home again. He also served a term on the St. Louis Police Board. When it comes to community organizing, he endorses Quentin Crisp's advice: Rather than keeping up with the Joneses, it's better to pull them down to your level.
Wow, really interesting post. Needless to say, Hitchens has it waaaaay easier than any of the people who have had waterboarding used against them as an interrogation technique. Combine the fact that this is definitely torture with the the Bush administration’s insistence that they don’t need to show anyone what evidence they have against detainees and you have one of the most embarrassing and tragic chapters in our country’s history. There’s little doubt in my mind that waterboarding has been used against innocent people who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time.