Hard-Hitting Torture Scene is Horrifying to Watch - Waterboarding

Amnesty International is launching a new ad featuring a hard-hitting torture scene showing simulated "waterboarding" in a campaign to outlaw the controversial interrogation practice. But Fox News still vigorously defends torture.

The ad, created by advertising agency Drugstore, is set to run in cinemas nationwide from May 9 and is being released online this week.

Amnesty's 90-second film, called Stuff of Life, opens in slow motion with stylish shots of crystal-clear water and an upbeat soundtrack in the style of a typical mineral-water TV ad.

However, after lulling viewers the ad transforms into an interrogation room where a man is strapped to a table being subjected to waterboarding. Waterboarding involves first tying detainees to a board face-up and tilted backwards, then pouring water over the face and into breathing passages to simulate drowning.

"For a few seconds our film-makers did this for real, they poured water up the nose and into the mouth of someone who was pinned down with his head tilted back," said Sara McNeice, campaign manager at Amnesty International UK.

"Even for those few seconds it is horrifying to watch. The reality, in a secret prison with no one to stop it, is much, much worse."

The launch of the ad follows the publishing of a book called Torture Team, which claims to shed light on interrogation techniques used in places such as Guantanamo Bay.
The campaign is part of Amnesty International UK's "unsubscribe" initiative launched in October last year that aims to gather support for human rights in the era of the "war on terror".
Meanwhile Fox news defends torture - Glenn Beck WantedTo Pull Out Fingernails And Peel Skin Off With A Cheese Grater. OReilly uses Nazi propaganda to vigorously defend torture, attacks President Obama and Churchill. see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfXwpRKcRvk&feature=channel_page
Never mind the "waterboarding isn't torture" meme. Fox News host Glenn Beck wants to torture, period. Beck trotted out his Jack Bauer fantasy again yesterday (5/1/09) in order to defend his support for what can only be described as torture. Putting forth a hypothetical scenario in which New York City was about to be vaporized, Beck said about his hypothetical suspect, We can pull his fingernails out, we can peel his skin off with a cheese grater. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
The discussion was part of another of Beck's special 9/12 shows. This one had a studio audience. Beck's 9 principles and 12 values were self-importantly written on the wall but the show was mostly about talking up the tax day tea parties and talking down the media coverage of it. A little more than halfway through, Beck maneuvered the talk away from taxes, the stimulus plan, etc. into a defense of his views on torture.
Fox News' Judge Andrew Napolitano was on hand. He spoke up at the request of one of the few audience members against the torture. The Constitution applies to all persons, Napolitano explained, not just Americans and not just those who are our friends.
We have been through a dark and painful chapter in our history, President Obama said in a statement on the memos. The United States is a nation of lawsthat is why we have taken steps to ensure that the actions described within [the memos] never take place again."As if on cue, Fox News hosts and personalities attacked Obama for releasing the memos while at the same time, defended the use of torture. Its not a dark chapter in our history. Its a successful one, Charles Krauthammer proclaimed. The so-called ticking time-bomb scenario Krauthammer cites is a canard. In fact, one former FBI agent who has interrogated terrorists said it has never happened. Its a red herring, he said. In the real world it doesnt happen. And torture doesnt protect anyone, as Kristol claimed.In fact, it has been directly linked to increased casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan, as the interrogator who got Abu Musab al-Zarqawi noted:Its no exaggeration to say that at least half of our losses and casualties in that country have come at the hands of foreigners who joined the fray because of our program of detainee abuse. The number of U.S. soldiers who have died because of our torture policy will never be definitively known, but it is fair to say that it is close to the number of lives lost on Sept. 11, 2001.Moreover, torture doesnt work. The Washington Post reported that not a single significant plot was foiled as a result of the torture of Abu Zubaydah and that any useful information he had was obtained before waterboarding was introduced. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, another detainee known to have been waterboarded, produced no actionable intelligence, according to a former CIA official.

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[PazGuerro]

@Zantair8 Very few people would kill for simply being evil or because the person they are attempting to kill has ideological differences; in other words, terrorism is not an end. Even terrorists have reasons for doing what they do. Maybe if we better understood those reasons we could prevent an environment that creates terrorism in the first place instead of having to kill other human beings to solve the problem.

[Goombah1212]

None of the idiots opposing this remember that these are diehard terrorists and criminals, sworn to the destruction of the US. They won't care what your "feelings" are on this matter or anything else. You are already dead to them. Did they care Daniel Pearl was a liberal when they cut off his head as he screamed?? The only question that remains is would they like a twist of lemon in their water, or lime?

[klard]

A campaign to outlaw waterboarding?  If you outlaw waterboarding only outlaws will waterboard (the USA and its brutal allies). It is already illegal anyway. The USA is not going to abide by any international laws, period. International laws apply to other countries.

[Cherub4874]

@Slotten68 check out 3 w's dot foxnews dot com front slash politics

Then search under "mohammed waterboarded 183 times" check it out.

[Cherub4874]

@Slotten68 NYTimes huh? Not surprising at all. Some advice 4 u, don't ever watch "24" or the movie "Unthinkable" you'll have a stroke or sumthin. We can just agree to disagree.

[Slotten68]

@Cherub4874 ...Well I have a source. Go to nytimes dot com and then:

2009/04/20/world/20detain.html

That is the article. He was "waterboarded 183 times in March of 2003" on top of many other things like being held naked in captivity for way over a month staright

[gothgirl4813]

@Slotten68 XD Well ya but I figured that was obvious. Who said it was a joke though?

[Cherub4874]

No, CIA cited 183 pours not 183 sessions. Sheesh even a 5th grader can figure out that number wouldn't add up considering the length of time they were detained. Stop drinking the koolaid and use your brain. And I hate to bust your bubble these people hate us for their "religious" reasons. They see us as infidels, always have.

[Slotten68]

@Cherub4874 Official CIA documentation specifically cites the number 183... Do you think I just made that up?

These people are taught as toddlers to hate us because we have been screwing the people who raised those kids for years. Weve been bombing the middle east for 50 years and overthrew governments that were sympathetic to our position. No wonder they hate us

But thats beyond the point. My only point here is that waterboarding doens't provide legit information consistantly and is wrong

[Cherub4874]

@Slotten68 183 times?? Come on, more like 10. Number of times grossly exaggerated = hidden agenda. No, it's not gonna work 100% of the time but has thwarted more attacks than u could ever imagine. These people are taught from toddlers to hate us. Not surprising there's false and misleading info given sometimes, even after torture. Know your enemies cuz they sure know you.