July 2, 2008
Christopher Hitchens Submits to Waterboarding
Having written a piece for Slate that drew distinctions between "torture" and "extreme interrogation", and having gotten a lot of flak for it, Christopher Hitchens agreed to submit to waterboarding. The title of his piece about the experience for Vanity Fair summarizes his conclusion.
I was completely convinced that, when the water pressure had become intolerable, I had firmly uttered the pre-determined code word that would cause it to cease. But my interrogator told me that, rather to his surprise, I had not spoken a word. I had activated the "dead man's handle" that signaled the onset of unconsciousness. So now I have to wonder about the role of false memory and delusion. What I do recall clearly, though, is a hard finger feeling for my solar plexus as the water was being poured. What was that for? "That's to find out if you are trying to cheat, and timing your breathing to the doses. If you try that, we can outsmart you. We have all kinds of enhancements."
Via BB.
Posted by dham at July 2, 2008 10:05 AM | TrackBack