Waterboarding described

I don't know what to say about this. I'm astounded that we have permitted our government to perform this act in our name. It's not the shame, it is the abject horror that we believe so little in our stated values, that is the true crime. Our generation - the generation that permitted this - will be compared with the Vichy government as spineless, complicit partners in the destruction of what I grew up believing the United States stood for - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

May god have mercy on our souls.

Things That Are Not Torture
by Hunter
Sun Nov 18, 2007 at 08:05:25 AM PST

For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession...

-- United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment

President Bush's nominee for attorney general told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that he does not know whether waterboarding is illegal. He pledged to study the matter and to reverse any Justice Department finding that endorses a practice that violates the law or the Constitution.

-- AP, October 30th, 2007


The first step is to firmly bind the prisoner to the table.

The ropes or straps should be tight enough to prevent any struggling that could injure either interrogators or the prisoner himself: arms, legs and torso should all be restrained. In addition to ropes or straps, it may also be desirable for several interrogators to physically restrain the prisoner using their own weight; use caution to prevent accidental suffocation, however. Proper restraint of the head is essential. The prisoner's head must be kept facing forward and immobile, using either bindings or physical effort by interrogators.

The table should be inclined backwards, so that the prisoner's head is below the level of his chest. In addition to allowing water to properly pool in the subject's throat and sinuses, and allowing water to be inhaled into, then drained from the lungs, this position enhances the sense of disorientation during the process. Ideally, it should be possible to quickly level the table and/or release the subject's head from restraints in the event that the prisoner vomits or aspirates excessive amounts of water.

Consider the setting: the interrogation should be done in a location chosen to elicit maximum fear from the prisoner. For some prisoners, a sterile, medical-like environment will create the greatest sense of terror; for others, a damp and dimly lit basement room will prove more alarming and disorienting. Interrogators may wish to wear hoods or masks, in order to increase this feeling and to prevent the prisoner from identifying his captors. The object of this technique is to strike irresistible panic into the prisoner, in order to best solicit information from the otherwise hostile subject: the more that sense of terror can be instilled before the physical process begins, the more quickly the prisoner will respond to the physical trauma, therefore lessening the duration of the technique, and in turn lessening the chances of physical damage or death. Creating an environment of extreme emotional stress and terror, then, is doing a distinct favor to your prisoner, sparing him from as much physical injury as possible.

At this point, it is important to note that, properly done, this technique is not torture. It has been carefully reviewed by the highest levels of the United States government, and found to be neither cruel or unusual, nor in violation of international law, but a reasonable "enhancement" of modern interrogation techniques.
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Restrain the prisoner's head and begin pouring water into the prisoner's nose and mouth. The instinctive reaction, upon the sinuses becoming flooded with water, will be immediate panic, requiring the subject to be tightly restrained. Keep the head facing forward, tilted backwards, so that the water does not drain.

Most typically, a wet cloth or towel is placed over the prisoner's head, or partially in the mouth, and the water poured onto the cloth, allowing it to soak through and into the mouth. In addition to preventing the prisoner from expelling any of the water, this technique further restricts the subject's ability to breathe, thus enhancing both the feeling and reality of imminent suffocation. Alternatively, plastic wrap may be used to create an airtight seal over the mouth after the mouth is filled, thus forcing the prisoner, upon his next breath, to inhale entirely through his water-blocked sinuses or -- since inhalation through the flooded passages will result in inhalation primarily of water, not air -- not at all.

Again, expect the flooding of the mouth and sinuses to create immediate and involuntary panic for the prisoner. The prisoner will struggle, cough, and in some cases possibly vomit: keep the head immobile and the cloth or plastic wrap firmly in place so that the prisoner cannot expel the water. This is the desired effect, placing the prisoner in the first stage of a drowning death.


Once the nose and mouth are filled with the requisite amount of water -- a very small amount -- that water will pool in the throat and sinuses, blocking the clear passage of air into the lungs. The amount of water to be used will vary according to prisoner and desired effect; the sensation can be tuned to allow the prisoner to experience any sensation from repetitive choking to painful aspiration to complete asphyxiation. Experimentation will be required; start with smaller amounts of water, to prevent accidental excessive aspiration, hypoxia, and death.

Soon after filling the throat and sinuses, and at the point which the prisoner can no longer consiously hold their breath, they will be forced to involuntarily inhale -- either through the heavy, wet cloth, or through the filled nose. Either way, the effect is the same; some of the pooled water will be drawn into the lungs, along with either some air or no air, depending on the amount of water and specific technique used.

This process has frequently been called simulated drowning. This is incorrect and crude terminology; in reality, a more accurate name would be controlled drowning or induced drowning. There is nothing simulated about the experience; it is actual water, flooding the breathing passages. It is actual water, being drawn into the lungs. The difference is that this method of drowning is one that can be controlled, "tuned" as necessary and prolonged, provided no errors are made, for an extended period of time.

It is commonly said that drowning is a fairly peaceful method of death; nonviolent, and in the final stages calm, due to the slow loss of consciousness upon oxygen deprivation. That may be true, but the initial stages of drowning are anything but peaceful: the human body involuntarily and quite violently rejects water or anything else from the air passageways, because any obstruction to those passageways will cause death within minutes.

Anyone who has had a drowning or near-drowning experience can immediately identify with the sensations involved. The shocking weight and pressure of the water as it enters the sinuses; the searing cold; the last moments of a previously inhaled breath, now entirely expired, constricting within the lungs, and the sensation of water pressing in from all directions. Panic and adrenaline surge forward, allowing a burst of power that is directed at the singular and primal goal of again finding the atmosphere, of finding any pocket of air whatsoever. The more prolonged the fight towards oxygen, the more disoriented the mind becomes; soon gravity fades entirely, and any sense of up or down is lost. Drowning victims have been known, in those last few seconds, to swim downward, away from their own salvation.

And then the oxygen is entirely gone, and the body rebels with finality against the brain, and the breath is taken, even though there is no air. Water flows into the lungs in excruciating, spattering, burning rivulets, and with surprising force. It is at that point that the victim is lost, and fully knows it; further breaths are impossible. No oxygen will be gleaned from the water, and no force, absent being plucked from the water by an unseen rescuer, can place air back in the lungs. The low oxygen levels in the blood prevent further struggling and dulls the functions of the brain, creating a sense of quiet, deathly peace. The body, having lost the reservoir of air within the lungs, loses buoyancy. The victim loses consciousness, and dies.


The goal of this interrogation technique is to recreate that experience in a controlled fashion. A normal drowning death lasts mere minutes: using this process, however, it is possible to prolong the experience almost indefinitely. It is possible to take the initial sensations of panic, of water flooding the body, of pain, of oxygen deprivation, and indeed of imminent death, and extend them over hours, or days. It is a God-given gift to the interrogator: can you imagine the abject terror of drowning, not just lived as a brilliant flash of memory set beneath the surface of unfamiliar water, but prolonged for breath after breath, repeated time and time again, in a small room, over an indefinite span? It is impossible to adapt to, or even to learn to tolerate.

The process can be controlled by adjustment of the amount of water pooled in the throat and nose. With a moderate amount, the prisoner may be allowed to take multiple breaths -- with each breath, a certain amount of the water will be aspirated into the lungs, causing intense pain and preventing those portions of the lungs from uptaking oxygen until they have drained. After the breath, much of the water will drain back out of the lungs, allowing the process to be repeated. In this fashion, the prisoner will experience the terrifying moments of the last drowning breath -- and repeat them, breath after breath, until such time as they lose consciousness or the interrogator deems it necessary to stop. In practice, the choking reflex so wracks the subject as to render him incapable of uncontrolled breaths of any sort, and should be closely monitored for asphyxiation.

Alternatively, more water may be used, thereby forcing more water to be aspirated into the lungs upon the first breath, or a very small amount, allowing the prisoner to take many breaths before enough water is aspirated to cause lack of consciousness.

The goal of the interrogation is to gain information, not death, and so fully drowning the prisoner is not acceptable practice. Only enough water to produce the physical and mental sensations of imminent death should be used; with greater amounts of water or increased duration, the chance of accidental death is increased. In order to create the proper effect, however, the sensation of imminent death must be reached, and repeatedly: the object of the session is not to inconvenience or irritate the prisoner, but to place him in a situation in which absolute terror is involuntary, and in which the prisoner is of the belief that he is indeed in immediate danger of being killed, if he continues to defy the will of his captors. It is absolutely essential to take each event past_ the point where the prisoner can tolerate it, or control his reaction to it: if the prisoner can hold their breath for ten seconds, then the duration of each event should last twenty. If the prisoner is able to take multiple breaths of air and water and remain conscious, the next event should use more water, or a longer duration, in order to escalate to increasing levels of panic.

I repeat: in order for this technique to be effective, the prisoner must believe that he is entirely unable to control the situation, that you, his interrogators do control the situation, and that you are willing to be reckless with the technique, to point of death, in order to gain compliance. In order to create this belief, you must ensure that the situation reaches far beyond the point of physical and mental tolerance -- not difficult to do, with drowning.

It is important to again note that this technique, as described, is not torture. It has been permitted by the government, and legal reviews by the government have determined that it does not fall in the purview of prohibited activities. This opinion has been upheld by the previous Attorney General of the United States, and an opinion on the matter carefully avoided by the newly nominated one: when the technique is done correctly, therefore, it is at most unclear whether bound, controlled drowning of prisoners constitutes torture. It may be possible that, upon further review, the technique may be reclassified as cruel, unusual, or "severe pain or suffering", but as of yet the legal landscape is publicly unsettled.


As with any physically coercive interrogation, steps must be undertaken to ensure the prisoner does not suffer from accidental harm or death during the procedure. At minimum, a medical team should be among the interrogators, and should monitor the blood oxygen levels of the prisoner to ensure hypoxia does not result in loss of consciousness or death. Upon any such loss of consciousness, the interrogation should be immediately halted, the prisoner's head should be released and turned, allowing water to drain from the nose, throat and lungs. Oxygen should be administered as necessary. Note that because of the position of the prisoner, vomiting may pose a particular problem, as bile can easily be aspirated into the lungs: aspiration pneumonia may be an occasional side effect of aggressive interrogation.

Panic and physical duress may cause cardiac arrest or respiratory failure, especially if sessions are prolonged. The medical team should be prepared to deal with these accidental circumstances, and should be prepared to revive the prisoner immediately upon any such events: prisoners with existing respiratory or circulatory conditions are especially prone to such accidents.

Careful attention to the welfare of the prisoner is important, during interrogation sessions. Your professionalism, and that of your fellow interrogators, will be reflected by your ability to avoid such outcomes.


This technique of interrogation has been developed, of course, to obtain required information from the prisoner. Among enhanced techniques, controlled drowning is one of the better options. It is repeatable, and leaves relatively little physical damage. Compare this with the crude techniques of torturers: cutting off a thumb or finger is repeatable, at most, ten times. Drowning can be repeated indefinitely, or at least until the information is obtained, the interrogator deems the sessions worthless, or the prisoner accidentally dies. Furthermore, the involuntary reaction to drowning is not controllable, as it may be with other forms of physical duress: even the most stubborn prisoner cannot withstand the mental effects, nor steel himself to the wracking, choking panic.

This technique, indeed, is effective enough to oblige the compliance of most prisoners, but be aware of the inherent limitations of coercive interrogations. The information given by the prisoner, in order to stop the event, is not necessarily truthful, and false confessions or manufactured information is commonplace. This is especially true if the prisoner truly does not know the answers to the questions asked: in this event, the prisoner has no method of release from repeated, indefinite sessions except to fabricate information. Be aware that innocent prisoners, therefore, are likely to be especially unreliable.

Known guilty prisoners, however, are also extremely prone to give false information during these sessions. This is especially true when making claims that are unverifiable to the interrogator, or at least which require a long period of time to verify: the prisoner gains respite, because he has given seemingly truthful information, and it may be weeks, months, or even years before the fabrication is discovered. Be careful, then, about trusting any information gained coercively, and be especially cautious in allocating resources or forming policy from coerced information.

On the other hand, verifying an untruth by the prisoner should be considered a potential learning experience for that prisoner: use the opportunity to increase the enhanced interrogation events, in order to demonstrate to the prisoner the costs of misinformation. The prisoner must not be allowed to think that true information and false information is equally acceptable to the interrogator, or only false information will be offered. Punishment for known mistruths must be severe.


The United States does not torture. This has been definitively stated at all levels of government, including by the President of the United States. The United States may perform techniques of enhanced interrogation; it may engage in coercion; it may inflict suffering akin to that experienced at the moment of death; it does not, however, torture. The United States clearly follows the Geneva Conventions in all circumstances in which it has deemed the Geneva Conventions to apply. The United States unambiguously follows its own laws regarding the rights of prisoners in all instances in which the United States has deemed those prisoners to have rights. It does not treat prisoners in a cruel or inhumane fashion. The Vice President of the United States has explicitly endorsed the legality and reasonable nature of this technique.

The United States may have enhanced interrogation techniques, borrowing methods of methodical drowning used by the Khmer Rouge, the Spanish Inquisitors, and various others that populate the cruelest edges of history.

But we are the United States, and that is the difference: the United States does not torture.



Some information for this post comes from waterboarding.org.