Ya...waterboarding is just too mean.

[GhostTX]

U.S. Soldiers Discover Mass Graves Next to Torture Center in Northern Iraq

The torture center, which the military said it thinks was run by al-Qaida in Iraq, was found based on tips from local Iraqis. Graves containing 26 bodies were found nearby.

"We discovered several (weapons) caches, a torture facility that had chains, a bed — an iron bed that was still connected to a battery — knives and swords that were still covered in blood as we went in to go after the terrorists in that area," said Army Maj. Gen. Mark P. Hertling, the top U.S. commander in northern Iraq.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,317554,00.html

[exlude]

I thought this thread was going to be about lake/oceanic recreational activities.

[D]

Waterboarding isn't shit. They do it in SERE training to US Servicemembers in the mock POW phase of the training.

FWIW, in all of our interrogations in GITMO, the longest anyone has been waterboarded was 90 seconds and he spilled lots of credible information. There has only been a half dozen or so cases of waterboarding at GITMO and over 3/4 of the people who have been put through that spilled the beans with credible information that quite possible averted dozens of terrorist attacks.

The way I see it, these people were and probably still are willing to kill Americans to promote their psychotic religious ideology. Waterboarding is the least we can do to return the favor.

[Zarathustra]

Such a mysterious topic.

Makes it a good one.

I recently talked to a friend of mine that recently returned form Afghanistan and he reported positive outcomes to waterboarding detained individuals believed to have known valuable information. He also said that there were several instances in which they caught wanted individuals or made their work easier based on information obtained through this WEIRD form of pseudo-torture. I'm not quite sure exactly what all is done in the process of waterboarding someone, but what I heard was pretty fucking weird. He told me there were some videos on youtube, maybe I'll go check this shit out...

[sc281_99-0135]

nuts to a car battery nuts to a car battery now thats torture !!!

[JP135]

Waterboard? Hell, drown em if there's even a remote chance the info will save US lives/prevent attacks/lead to captures.

[Slowhand]

Waterboard? Hell, drown em if there's even a remote chance the info will save US lives/prevent attacks/lead to captures.

no shit, I don't understand why this is such a bad thing?

and if we were really torturing them, we'd force them to watch Miami Dolphins gametape over and over agian.

[JP135]

and if we were really torturing them, we'd force them to watch Miami Dolphins gametape over and over agian.

You evil BASTARD!

[TheAsp!]

Torture is wrong and it doesn't matter who is torturing who. Just because they torture with knives and we torture with water doesn't make us the good guys. There is a reason they destroyed the interrogation tapes and anyone with a brain can figure out why.

[JP135]

Torture is wrong and it doesn't matter who is torturing who. Just because they torture with knives and we torture with water doesn't make us the good guys. There is a reason they destroyed the interrogation tapes and anyone with a brain can figure out why.

Someday when your children are learning from the koran, you'll wonder how did we ever get to this place.

[Slowhand]

Someday when your children are learning from the koran, you'll wonder how did we ever get to this place.

i began to chuckle, and then the prospect of this happening scared me shitless. :o

[Zarathustra]

Torture is wrong and it doesn't matter who is torturing who. Just because they torture with knives and we torture with water doesn't make us the good guys. There is a reason they destroyed the interrogation tapes and anyone with a brain can figure out why.


This is also true. It's morally and logically wrong to do this to any one person. To think it about on a massive macro scale of things, it's a really fucked up thing to do. Come to another person's country and torture someone into giving up their buddies. I don't know, it's definitely a subject open and likely to be debated from many different prospectives and opinions. But my opinion is that though it may provide an increase of positive outcomes in wartime situations, intelligence gathering through torture is unjust, wrong, and should be reevaluated.

[D]

I'm not a fan of torture and I don't define waterboarding as torture, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

[BP]

Torture is having a flaming hot rod shoved up your urethra, having something shoved all the way down your throat into your digestive tract and ripped out, bamboo shoots driven under your finger nails, ripping off nails, cutting off fingers and toes and the good old breaking of bones.

This is the kind of stuff our troops suffer through when captured by the enemy. Not only that but being forced to watch your friends being beheaded, being told America has been nuked and everyone is dead, etc...

I think it'd be a good idea to put members of Congress through a crash course in SERE training. Let them experience sleep deprivation, water boarding and intense interrogation themselves. You never know when one of them may be kidnapped while overseas.

[Fox466]

Torture is a necessary evil in todays increasingly screwed up world. People want to hurt us, want to kill our children, and want to destroy our country. When you face realities such as these you do what you have to do to protect what you love.

Is it right? No. Does it serve it's purpose? Bet your ass it does and I for one don't give a damn about the enemy if it means that we have saved the life of even one service man (or woman). Imo they agreed to pay the price when they picked up arms against us...

[GT Dan]

Torture is wrong and it doesn't matter who is torturing who. Just because they torture with knives and we torture with water doesn't make us the good guys. There is a reason they destroyed the interrogation tapes and anyone with a brain can figure out why.

Your mommy lied, you aren't special.

[sc281_99-0135]

Torture is wrong and it doesn't matter who is torturing who. Just because they torture with knives and we torture with water doesn't make us the good guys. There is a reason they destroyed the interrogation tapes and anyone with a brain can figure out why.



so what exactly do you suggest we do......sit down to high tea with the enemy who brainwashed its believers into thinking 72 virgins will be waiting for htem in the afterlife if they kill us. that murdering us and anyone or anything remotely attached to us is considered a sacred and holy act.

i hope you get drafted so you can be baptised in fire and get off your bullshit high horse.

[mardyn]

We're dealing with brainwashed religous fanatics that understand only violence, death, and destruction... nothing else matters and they don't give a rat's ass one way or the other...

Anybody who thinks otherwise is living in fantasy land.

If it saves the life of only one American solider, I'd say it is acceptable.

mardyn

[futant]

Torture is having a flaming hot rod shoved up your urethra, having something shoved all the way down your throat into your digestive tract and ripped out, bamboo shoots driven under your finger nails, ripping off nails, cutting off fingers and toes and the good old breaking of bones.

This is the kind of stuff our troops suffer through when captured by the enemy. Not only that but being forced to watch your friends being beheaded, being told America has been nuked and everyone is dead, etc...



Exactly
waterboarding is hardly that much like what i define as torture.
It basically takes advantage of everyones fear of being drowned without actually damageing the subject.
To me , it's the best of both worlds and allows us the ability to gather useful data with the least amount of physical and mental damage to the enemy.
Really it's the one and only effective tool that is borderline at best.
It's so fast, but effective
It's more productive then solitary confinement/ and extended periods of time without light/ sleep etc.

There must be a thousand countries out there where the locals would cut your hand off for stealing still, and people here in the good ol USA have the time to debate if this amounts to torture. What a joke....

BRING BACK WATERBOARDING!!!! :D

[Mustangman_2000]

Yea, I think waterboarding is pretty benign considering what is used in other countries.

If it saves life's by gleaning valuable intelligence, then so be it.