Christopher Hitchens tries waterboarding-yes it is torture

I would volunteer to undergo this, so I could speak with more authority. I believe that the practice is torture based on the stance of the US earlier. However I also believe that the gentleman went through this to "prove" that it was torture. If I did this, it wouldn't be to prove a preconceived idea that I wanted to prove.

I would do the same. Though as Immie pointed out, it still wouldn't quite be the same given that we would know that we were going to live. A prisoner would not.

Bottom line though..... 20 seconds??? really??? Hell, I can hold my breath for 90 seconds +.... Hitchens is a wuss. :cool:
 
I would do the same. Though as Immie pointed out, it still wouldn't quite be the same given that we would know that we were going to live. A prisoner would not.

Bottom line though..... 20 seconds??? really??? Hell, I can hold my breath for 90 seconds +.... Hitchens is a wuss. :cool:
Yeah. True that. I was in swimming in HS, at my peak I could swim the length of an Olympic pool twice underwater. Now, I'd probably only get across once....
 
I would do the same. Though as Immie pointed out, it still wouldn't quite be the same given that we would know that we were going to live. A prisoner would not.

Bottom line though..... 20 seconds??? really??? Hell, I can hold my breath for 90 seconds +.... Hitchens is a wuss. :cool:

If they'd added a little whisky to that water i'll wager he'd have held on for 20 hours minimum.
 
I would do the same. Though as Immie pointed out, it still wouldn't quite be the same given that we would know that we were going to live. A prisoner would not.

Bottom line though..... 20 seconds??? really??? Hell, I can hold my breath for 90 seconds +.... Hitchens is a wuss. :cool:

Eh...

Waterboarding isn't exactly like holding your breath. For one thing, it induces the gag reflex almost immediately. It's sort of like insta-drowning. People have broken bones resisting their restraints during waterboarding.
 
I would do the same. Though as Immie pointed out, it still wouldn't quite be the same given that we would know that we were going to live. A prisoner would not.

Bottom line though..... 20 seconds??? really??? Hell, I can hold my breath for 90 seconds +.... Hitchens is a wuss. :cool:

http://www.cracked.com/article_17142_logical-fallacies-5-ways-common-sense-screws-us.html

The Historian's Fallacy

Remember that time you decided to jump off your roof and do a back flip into your little brother's kiddie pool? Remember how all your friends thought it was a great idea and it was going to be so cool? And do you remember when you regained consciousness three months later in the hospital, how suddenly they all laughed at you and said you should have known better? Congratulations, you were bitch-slapped by the Historian's Fallacy.

The problem is, there is something about our brains that just won't let us put ourselves in the other guy's shoes. We're the fat guy on the couch screaming about how LeBron James "choked" because he took that bad shot instead of driving the lane. We're all convinced that, had we been in the same situation, we would have made the right decision; the Titanic wouldn't have sank, the stock market wouldn't have crashed and the PlayStation 3 wouldn't have been priced at $599.

The moment we see their mistake in hindsight, we tell ourselves what morons they must have been. The problem, of course, is that when your reaction is to shake your head, laugh and call them dumbasses, it keeps you from learning from their mistakes.
 
It induces the gag reflex because it goes into your nose as well as your mouth, it takes a very special person to last more than 30 seconds.

Eh...

Waterboarding isn't exactly like holding your breath. For one thing, it induces the gag reflex almost immediately. It's sort of like insta-drowning. People have broken bones resisting their restraints during waterboarding.
 
Hitchens was a British intellectual widely known for supporting the US's interrogation techniques.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_hitchens#Waterboarding

Waterboarding

Hitchens initially rejected the notion that waterboarding, a controversial interrogation technique that has allegedly been used on prisoners held by the United States at Guantanamo Bay, constitutes torture. Subsequently, he was asked by Vanity Fair to experience it for himself. In May 2008, Hitchens voluntarily experienced waterboarding, after which he fully changed his opinion. He concluded "if waterboarding does not constitute torture, then there is no such thing as torture."[56][57]

Damo pwned?
 
Damo pwned?
Not particularly, I distrust Hitchens and still believe he set out to "prove" exactly what he "proved". It isn't difficult to portray yourself as something you aren't in order to draw from a following you otherwise wouldn't have. (Geraldo is somebody I think who also does that.)

It isn't, necessarily, that I don't believe it is torture (in fact I do think it is, because of the actual trials and convictions of soldiers who used it in past wars), it is that I distrust Hitchens as a valid and true source of information.
 
Eh...

Waterboarding isn't exactly like holding your breath. For one thing, it induces the gag reflex almost immediately. It's sort of like insta-drowning. People have broken bones resisting their restraints during waterboarding.

Of course waterboarding isn't exactly like holding your breath. But here is a hint... the simulated drowning only takes place when you start to breath in the water vapor. If you are not breathing... it does not work.

Dont believe me... a little experiment for you.... in a few weeks when it is time for your monthly shower... tilt your head back under the water, open your mouth, but do not breath. The water will run up your nose and in your mouth, but as long as you don't breath... it will not affect you. After you have tried it... repeat the procedure... only this time after you have tilted your head back and the water is streaming into your mouth... take a deep breath.

Then report back to us as to the difference.
 
http://www.cracked.com/article_17142_logical-fallacies-5-ways-common-sense-screws-us.html

The Historian's Fallacy

Remember that time you decided to jump off your roof and do a back flip into your little brother's kiddie pool? Remember how all your friends thought it was a great idea and it was going to be so cool? And do you remember when you regained consciousness three months later in the hospital, how suddenly they all laughed at you and said you should have known better? Congratulations, you were bitch-slapped by the Historian's Fallacy.

The problem is, there is something about our brains that just won't let us put ourselves in the other guy's shoes. We're the fat guy on the couch screaming about how LeBron James "choked" because he took that bad shot instead of driving the lane. We're all convinced that, had we been in the same situation, we would have made the right decision; the Titanic wouldn't have sank, the stock market wouldn't have crashed and the PlayStation 3 wouldn't have been priced at $599.

The moment we see their mistake in hindsight, we tell ourselves what morons they must have been. The problem, of course, is that when your reaction is to shake your head, laugh and call them dumbasses, it keeps you from learning from their mistakes.

so essentially what you are saying is..... 'blah blah blah... I don't have a valid point to make.... blah blah blah... so I am going to spit forth some crap and hope it applies to this situation.... blah blah blah'
 
It induces the gag reflex because it goes into your nose as well as your mouth, it takes a very special person to last more than 30 seconds.

If they force you to breath, then you are correct. I would imagine 30 seconds would be tough. If not, then holding ones breath would take you well beyond the 30 seconds.
 
If they force you to breath, then you are correct. I would imagine 30 seconds would be tough. If not, then holding ones breath would take you well beyond the 30 seconds.
And if you practiced it because you thought you might be subject to it you could last longer, as I'm sure the combatants have done now as they believe that it will.
 
And if you practiced it because you thought you might be subject to it you could last longer, as I'm sure the combatants have done now as they believe that it will.

so you are saying that all us troops should be trained in withstanding waterboarding?

I am beginning to believe you are like Rush and waterborading would be an educational experience. I dare you to try it and film it.
Post your film here.
 
And if you practiced it because you thought you might be subject to it you could last longer, as I'm sure the combatants have done now as they believe that it will.

True. I think (note to others... this is my OPINION) that Hitchens went in there with the intent of telling everyone how horrible it was. For him to have paniced that fast suggests to me that it was indeed his pre-planned dramatic response and that he wanted to hurry up and get up and explain to the world just how horrible it was.

to be clear, I also beleive waterboarding is torture.... I just think Hitchens is a weak minded simpleton with an agenda that did a poor job of covering this.
 
so you are saying that all us troops should be trained in withstanding waterboarding?

I am beginning to believe you are like Rush and waterborading would be an educational experience. I dare you to try it and film it.
Post your film here.
Straw man. Please point to any place I stated that or shut up.
 
True. I think (note to others... this is my OPINION) that Hitchens went in there with the intent of telling everyone how horrible it was. For him to have paniced that fast suggests to me that it was indeed his pre-planned dramatic response and that he wanted to hurry up and get up and explain to the world just how horrible it was.

to be clear, I also beleive waterboarding is torture.... I just think Hitchens is a weak minded simpleton with an agenda that did a poor job of covering this.
Which was my take on it too. Not surprisingly we agree yet again.
 
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