Quote:
Originally Posted by Strange Famous
For 1000 sheets a second I'd do a few minutes.
|
No you wouldn't. Khalid Sheik Mohammad profoundly impressed his captors by going 40 seconds. Most videos I've seen of people subjecting themselves to waterboarding have them dropping the "safety signal" within eight or ten seconds. You know, the thing put in their hand that they're told to drop only if they experience unbearable suffering?
What I've seen and read about waterboarding indicates that your knowledge of your safety has zero to do with it. The fact you'll be sleeping in a nice warm bed later instead of a cold cell has absolutely nothing to do with the primal "I'm dying" response that is produced in your body and brain by waterboarding.
A prominent right-wing member of the Straight Dope forum waterboarded himself as an experiment. I'll give you the link to his whole thing in a sec, but the most compelling part of his story reads:
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Scylla
So, is it torture?
I'll put it this way. If I had the choice of being waterboarded by a third party or having my fingers smashed one at a time by a sledgehammer, I'd take the fingers, no question..
It's horrible, terrible, inhuman torture. I can hardly imagine worse. I'd prefer permanent damage and disability to experiencing it again. I'd give up anything, say anything, do anything.
|
I waterboard! - Straight Dope Message Board