(no subject)

[theweaselking]

Quoting in it's entirety, for extremely good reason: tongodeon explains waterboarding.

After yesterday's post I've had two people tell me variants of this:

"I honestly don't think waterboarding would be all that bad *if* you know you can get the people to stop. As in, I'm pretty sure I could lay on a table with cellophane over my face as you pour water on me and without any troubles hold my breath for about 3 minutes (which is how long I can hold my breath underwater without much effort)"

People who say this misunderstand the procedure of waterboarding. "CIA officers who subjected themselves to the water boarding technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in." Presumably they knew it would stop, and were physically capable of holding their breath for longer than 14 seconds. I didn't understand the procedure very well yesterday either, but I did some research and this is my current best guess as to what waterboarding is and why it's "unpleasant". It's not asphyxiation, it's forced sustained water inhalation.

You restrain someone on a board, where their entire body is held straight and their arms are immobilized. The board is inclined about 15-20 degrees so that the feet are above the head, at such an angle so that you could pour water into the nose.

You put saran wrap over their face, so that it covers the eyes, nose, and mouth. Shave facial hair so that you get a good seal.

Under the saran wrap, maybe through a plastic tube, you pour water onto the face, running from the chin to the forehead, so that the water runs into the mouth and nose. It starts filling up the sinuses and the throat, filling from the top-back and filling forward and down.

The water stays in the head, filling the throat, mouth, and sinuses with water. The lungs don't fill up with water so your prisoner doesn't asphyxiate, but they *do* feel their entire upper respiratory system from sinuses to trachea filled with water, "simulating drowning". You're essentially drowning them from the inside, filling their head and neck up. The lungs stay out of the water, keeping oxygen in the blood and prolonging the glubbing. See the diagram on the right.

The saran wrap - or any facial covering - is not essential, but is there as a bonus multiplier. If someone coughs to try to blow the water out of their throat or mouth the plastic catches the water and shoves it back. It also acts as a one-way valve, opening to let more air out and then closing again to prevent inhalation. Eventually you end up with collapsed, empty lungs, no ability to inhale more air, a throat, mouth, and nose that's still full of water, and no capacity to get the water out since you're already fully exhaled.

There are a lot of variables to play with: the angle of the board, the volume of the water, the pressure of the plastic wrap, how much inhalation to allow, and where to keep your prisoner on the line between "waterlogged wheezing" and "deep gurgling". There's an asphyxiation hazard, but they've got doctors on hand with blood oxygen monitors to make sure you stay oxygenated enough to remain conscious. If you mess up and asphyxiate your prisoner to the point of unconsciousness the doctors have five to six minutes to resuscitate your prisoner before brain damage occurs, which is more than enough time especially if you've already got the equipment prepped.

Of course it's possible to kill someone this way if you're not careful. That's true of ALL the tortures. The point of torture isn't to kill you, it's to keep you on the agonizing border between life and death. The best torturers from all countries are "good" if they can cut, shock, burn, or otherwise abuse their prisoner without him losing consciousness. The doctors are present to protect the prisoner's life - for the purpose of prolonging the torture and maximizing the discomfort. They almost certainly know the exact blood oxygen level that allows maximum consciousness but provides maximum panic, and advise the interrogators how to adjust their techniques to keep him in the "sweet spot".

Inhaled liquid is an immediate, life-threatening situation. It'll kill you faster than third degree burns, faster than a lost eye or a lost limb. If you've ever inhaled water you know that even the smallest amount of liquid in the larynx and trachea is an immediate, hardwired hotline directly to the panic portion of the brain that death is imminent.

All of that is his writing. Click the link for the original. I'm sharing it because I think it needs to be in more places.

Comments

[dolston.livejournal.com]

That is a wonderfully discriptive explanation on why this is torture and why the US should now be put on the same level as Syria, China, Iran and others who advocate this kind of thing. Anyone who even tries to advocate these kind of actions are not the people who I would ever want to associate with.

[catlin.livejournal.com]

The sad thing is, most of the US does not advocate it. Just the ones sucking up to bush, and the hardline Gung ho assholes. Unfortunatly, they are the ones the world is hearing, because they just won this fight. THe rest of us are realistic enough to know that this just fucked the us over for the next generation or more, politically.

[bellacrow.livejournal.com]

I'm linking to this. thanks

[normanrafferty.livejournal.com]

And the worst part is, our president is on the record as saying he doesn't even know what inhumane treatment is.

[harald387.livejournal.com]

Not to mention being on record as saying that he has ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM with this being done to captured American citizens and soldiers.

That's one of the things that bothers me on a fundamental level. Bush has absolutely NO concern for his electorate. And yet he still has such vocal support.

-K"H"S

[unknownpoltroon.livejournal.com]

Do you have any record of this?

[harald387.livejournal.com]

From the transcript of his press conference on 15 Sept/06 (http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/09/20060915-2.html):

Q: Mr. President, critics of your proposed bill on interrogation rules say there's another important test -- these critics include John McCain, who you've mentioned several times this morning -- and that test is this: If a CIA officer, paramilitary or special operations soldier from the United States were captured in Iran or North Korea, and they were roughed up, and those governments said, well, they were interrogated in accordance with our interpretation of the Geneva Conventions, and then they were put on trial and they were convicted based on secret evidence that they were not able to see, how would you react to that, as Commander-in-Chief?

THE PRESIDENT: David, my reaction is, is that if the nations such as those you named, adopted the standards within the Detainee Detention Act, the world would be better. That's my reaction. We're trying to clarify law. We're trying to set high standards, not ambiguous standards.