Watch Christopher Hitchens Get Waterboarded (VANITY FAIR)

From http://www.vf.com. How does it feel to be "aggressively interrogated"? Christopher Hitchens found out for himself, submitting to a brutal waterboarding session in an effort to understand the human cost of America's use of harsh tactics at Guantánamo and elsewhere. VF.com has the footage. Related: "Believe Me, It's Torture," from the August 2008 issue, http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/08/hitchens200808

Interview conducted by David Rose and filmed by Arya Surowidjojo.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• Christopher
• Hitchens
• Waterboarding
• Vanity
• Fair
• Guantanamo

[kellysparky1]

There are people that have almost drowned and now have a paralyzing fear of water. It is psychological, but that kind of abuse has long lasting effects on people. The reason we should not use "every available tool at our disposal"...it makes us no better than the terrorists. I thought that was the reason we went to war, to stop these kind of attrocities. Our leaders make our country look like a bunch of hippocrites by being in favor of these tactics. It sickens me to depths of my soul.

[FlekkefjordStation]

@kellysparky1 You went to war because the black people had the black water. Nothing to do with terrorism.

[MrMadmanbob]

@DirtyNosebleed I will remind you again that I am against torture.

[MrMadmanbob]

@DirtyNosebleed When we go to war with another country, we do so with the knowledge that there will be collateral damage. When we drop bombs on enemy cities, we do so knowing that we will be causing horrific suffering and death for those innocents who fall victim to collateral damage. Despite the fact that we do not cause this suffering as directly as we do through torture, we still effectively condemn innocents to horrific suffering through any decision to engage in warfare.

[DirtyNosebleed]

@MrMadmanbob Okay, allow me to break it down.

Collateral damage is damage done without the willful intent of causing prolonged suffering. In other words, collateral damage is damage that wasn't intended, but it happened.

Torture is willful and purposeful inflicting of agony and pain upon an individual. It isn't accidental nor is it reliable, yet it is done to extract information. "I do think it can be essential in extreme cases of war or national security." Thanks Jack Bauer.

[MrMadmanbob]

@UnknownXV I agree with just everything you have said. I as well would rather die than be tortured. In fact, I am against torture precisely because it is so ineffective at getting information and thus causes needless suffering. As for your preference of losing your lims....I'm pretty sure the pain of having your limbs torn off is pretty comparable to the agony of torture. There's not much point discussing which is worse. Both are forms of suffering that should be avoided.

[TheSonorama21]

Better man? In reality, I think you'd do what the rest of us would. Instinct would kick in. Life is too short to end by choice.

[UnknownXV]

@MrMadmanbob I'd take being limbless than undergoing days of this, in a heartbeat.

Besides, torture only offers unreliable information.

You torture someone, he gives you information, you stop. You verify the information, but it turns out to be false. So you torture him again, and he gives you more false information. You can't not stop torturing him, or else he would have no incentive to give you genuine intel.

So it doesn't work, at all.

[UnknownXV]

@MrMadmanbob Uh, I would rather die than go through this torture without possibility of escape. I'm not even sure I would undergo it for a hundred thousand dollars. 

[UnknownXV]

He brings to point, truly, the simplest and most irrefutable argument against torture. What if he's innocent? The level of horror torture can bring is unfathomable. The idea that we must torture, to survive, is fucking ludicrous.

I'll be frank, I would rather die than torture someone to save myself. It's that simple. I wouldn't deserve to live if I did this.

[dibinism]

Torture is always wrong, it is wrong when Iran does it, it is wrong when Tunisia does it, it is wrong when Libya does it and it is wrong when America does it. Once America takes part in methods of torture then it loses the moral authority to condemn regimes which take part in such revolting policies.

[MrMadmanbob]

@DirtyNosebleed You act like there's some kind of a difference in the suffering people experience whether it's collateral or purposeful. It's all suffering, and it's all equally bad. When we go into war, we do so with the knowledge that there will be collateral damage. And anyway...I've already stated that I'm against torture so...I don't see at all why you're getting so angry.