In defense of waterboarding

Vasco Kohlmayer explains why waterboarding should be the interrogation method of choice in certain circumstances, namely when more conventional methods aren’t working and the terrorist is believed, reasonably, to have vital information. Apparently, waterboarding has succeeded in breaking down resistance to providing truthful information every time it’s been used (usually in less than a minute), even when the subject knows in advance that death is not a possibility. Moreover, the discomfort of waterboarding lasts for only a very short period of time and carries virtually no risk of long-term harm.

David Adesnik says he became very, very angry when I referred to Senators McCain, Graham, etc as “the terrorist rights wing of the Republican party.” I’m sure it makes me at least as angry that McCain and Graham have placed sparing Khalid Sheikh Mohammad and Zacarias Moussaoui from two minutes of anguish ahead of saving the lives of thousands of innocent people. Perhaps I should start calling McCain and Graham the leaders of the “security endangerment wing” of their party.

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