Is waterboarding torture?

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23 Jul 2011, 6:04 pm

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPubUCJv58[/youtube]
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wOStoGd5GZw[/youtube]

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Jory
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23 Jul 2011, 6:10 pm

The fact that this question needs to be asked is hilarious.

Sweetleaf
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23 Jul 2011, 6:13 pm

Yeah I think that would do some psychological damage at least.

Vexcalibur
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23 Jul 2011, 6:22 pm

I actually never gave it much thought until a certain Mythbusters episode.

Kary Byron is usually very happy to do odd things, but after water boarding she was VERY distressed. That thing must be just horrible.

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blunnet
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23 Jul 2011, 6:32 pm

I'd say it is torture. Yet, it was used to catch and kill Bin Laden without a trial.

ruveyn
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23 Jul 2011, 6:34 pm

blunnet wrote:

I'd say it is torture. Yet, it was used to catch and kill Bin Laden without a trial.

any means to a just end is just.

ruveyn

Vexcalibur
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23 Jul 2011, 6:34 pm

So, all we needed to remove one head of the many Alqa'eda leaders was sell our souls and become as bad as them!

GREAAAT!! !

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ruveyn
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23 Jul 2011, 6:34 pm

Vexcalibur wrote:

So, all we needed to remove one head of the many Alqa'eda leaders was sell our souls and become as bad as them!

GREAAAT!! !

We should become worse. Then we will win for sure.

ruveyn

jrjones9933
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23 Jul 2011, 7:09 pm

ruveyn wrote:

Vexcalibur wrote:

So, all we needed to remove one head of the many Alqa'eda leaders was sell our souls and become as bad as them!

GREAAAT!! !

We should become worse. Then we will win for sure.

ruveyn

If we get worse then we will have already lost.

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Philologos
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23 Jul 2011, 7:16 pm

A. I cannot take a shower without serious discomfort

B. What is up with this series?

Sweetleaf
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23 Jul 2011, 7:30 pm

By the time they got around to shooting Osama Bin Laden, no one really cared....I mean my reaction was a mixture of 'oh finally, and then wait why all the time, resources and money spent on this long after the guy hardly presented anymore of a threat.' I guess he deserved it but still....there where probably better ways to use those resources.

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23 Jul 2011, 7:30 pm

blunnet wrote:

I'd say it is torture. Yet, it was used to catch and kill Bin Laden without a trial.

This is false.

Quote:

"The United States Department of Defense did not do waterboarding for interrogation purposes to anyone. It is true that some information that came from normal interrogation approaches at Guantanamo did lead to information that was beneficial in this instance. But it was not harsh treatment and it was not waterboarding."
-Donald Rumsfeld.

Quote:

"The bottom line is this: If we had some kind of smoking-gun intelligence from water-boarding in 2003, we would have taken out Osama bin Laden in 2003,” -Tommy Vietor, spokesman for the National Security Council

http://www.politicalruminations.com/2011/05/senate-intelligence-chair-debunks-stubborn-right-wing-meme-regarding-the-death-of-osama-bin-laden.html
http://geniusofinsanityworld.blogspot.c ... water.html

blunnet
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23 Jul 2011, 8:25 pm

LKL wrote:

blunnet wrote:

I'd say it is torture. Yet, it was used to catch and kill Bin Laden without a trial.

This is false.

Quote:

Ok, well, I got that from the republican presidential debate in may, in which a candidate, don't remember who, stated that waterboarding led to Bin Laden, thus he was supporting it.

It was disturbing the thought that Obama's administration approved the use of this technique or that they still use it, after campaigning against it.

AceOfSpades
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23 Jul 2011, 8:32 pm

ruveyn wrote:

Vexcalibur wrote:

So, all we needed to remove one head of the many Alqa'eda leaders was sell our souls and become as bad as them!

GREAAAT!! !

We should become worse. Then we will win for sure.

ruveyn

It would've been great if they got a blowtorch to their eyes instead. But I'm just being idealistic, that sets a dangerous precedent.

Last edited by AceOfSpades on 23 Jul 2011, 8:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.

DentArthurDent
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23 Jul 2011, 8:32 pm

ruveyn wrote:

blunnet wrote:

I'd say it is torture. Yet, it was used to catch and kill Bin Laden without a trial.

any means to a just end is just.

ruveyn

BS, the amount of false leads generated by torture means its use is counter productive, and therefore bordering on useless, and if you seriously believe that bin laden was hunted done as a result of torture rather than a tip off from within the Pakistani government or state apparatus you need to wake up to the machinations of our governments

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leejosepho
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23 Jul 2011, 9:32 pm

Quote:

Torture, n. [L. tortus, torqueo, to twist.] (Webster, 1863)
1. Extreme pain; anguish of body or mind; pang; agony; torment.
2. Severe pain inflicted judicially, either as a punishment for a crime, or for the purpose of extorting a confession from an accused person ... as by water or fire, or by the boot or thumbkin.

Torture, v.t. To pain to extremity; to torment.
1. To punish with torture; to put to the rack; as, to torture an accused person.
2. To vex; to harass.
3. To keep on the stretch, as a bow. [Not in use.]

Torturous, a.
Tormenting. [Not in use.]

Whether or not it is justified by a given outcome, waterboarding is a form of bullying that certainly fits all of the above.

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