Christopher Hitchens has himself voluntarily waterboarded.

[ms. kat]

Awhile back in an article for Slate.com he (author Christopher Hitchens) appeared to be defending the practice of waterboarding. He basically repeated the Republican talking points that claimed waterboarding is an “extreme interrogation technique” but not really torture. A lot of folks called him on it and suggested that if it’s not torture, then perhaps he should give it a go himself to prove it.
To his credit, he actually did it.
In a Vanity Fair article, he talks about why he did it and what it was like.

You may have read by now the official lie about this treatment, which is that it “simulates” the feeling of drowning. This is not the case. You feel that you are drowning because you are drowning—or, rather, being drowned, albeit slowly and under controlled conditions and at the mercy (or otherwise) of those who are applying the pressure. The “board” is the instrument, not the method. You are not being boarded. You are being watered. This was very rapidly brought home to me when, on top of the hood, which still admitted a few flashes of random and worrying strobe light to my vision, three layers of enveloping towel were added. In this pregnant darkness, head downward, I waited for a while until I abruptly felt a slow cascade of water going up my nose. Determined to resist if only for the honor of my navy ancestors who had so often been in peril on the sea, I held my breath for a while and then had to exhale and—as you might expect—inhale in turn. The inhalation brought the damp cloths tight against my nostrils, as if a huge, wet paw had been suddenly and annihilatingly clamped over my face. Unable to determine whether I was breathing in or out, and flooded more with sheer panic than with mere water, I triggered the pre-arranged signal and felt the unbelievable relief of being pulled upright and having the soaking and stifling layers pulled off me. I find I don’t want to tell you how little time I lasted.

You can see for yourself how long he lasted, it wasn't very long, in a video they taped of him going through with it.
You can watch the video here.

I am not stating one way or the other if waterboarding is torture or not, but I do think it's very cool that someone put their money where their mouth is so to speak, and actually volunteered to have this done.
I don't know if the use of towels as well as the hood is a normal part of the procedure, and I'm sure they didn't use the same amount of water on him as they would with someone they were truly interrogating, but it was a very interesting article to read, and the video was also interesting to watch.

[Trizzle]

I'd like to see some of the people on here do it that agree with this practice and see how long they last.

[Trky2005]

I don't get it, what are they doing? I don't really understand the concept of water boarding.

[Josh]

it's a method of torture

[MyPenisGoesDeep]

They only poured about half a cup and he pussied out. Geez!!

[NeENeRs]

wow that was seriously interesting. i just sent it to a bunch of people!!

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Originally Posted by Trky2005

I don't get it, what are they doing? I don't really understand the concept of water boarding.

It is no different than when my brother used to hold my head under water in the swimming pool. I hated that as much as anyone who has been waterboarded.

But torture? I'm not seeing it.

[HullBreach]

Originally Posted by Trizzle

I'd like to see some of the people on here do it that agree with this practice and see how long they last.

I was waterboarded while I was in the service, it's not bad at all. Don't get me wrong, it sucks something fierce, but there's no lasting damage and it's not even that hard to resist IMO.

[NeENeRs]

Originally Posted by Chuck 98 RT/10

It is no different than when my brother used to hold my head under water in the swimming pool. I hated that as much as anyone who has been waterboarded.

But torture? I'm not seeing it.

i'm sure there wasn't the threat of your brother killing you.

i personally see it as torture; however, this doesn't make me opposed to it being used in the military.

[Tripw0l]

Originally Posted by HullBreach

I was waterboarded while I was in the service, it's not bad at all. Don't get me wrong, it sucks something fierce, but there's no lasting damage and it's not even that hard to resist IMO.

I'm not talking people who receive it as training, I'm talking about ordinary citizens who don't prepare their minds and bodies for such an activity. You undergo it for good reason, because it's training and it might actually happen to you and I think it probably also gives you an idea of how torture interrogations are carried out. I'm not sure what the exact training process is or how long you go under for or how many reps or how many days the training goes on but think about that happening to you several times a day, several days a week for a year.

Your training, while with good intentions, doesn't come close to the real thing I'm sure.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9G2wZ5A2zRA

[Tripw0l]

Originally Posted by Treysdad

They only poured about half a cup and he pussied out. Geez!!

In some other simulations that I've seen, they only use a few drops of water and cellophane and still people tap out really quick. The idea is to use little water to keep the person being interrogated from inhaling an excessive amount of water.

[Chuck 98 RT/10]

Originally Posted by NeENeRs

i'm sure there wasn't the threat of your brother killing you.

Good point. I should have though of that when I was 9-years-old.

Drowning is drowning, it doesn't make it any more tolerable believing you're not gonna die from it.

[Political_Man]

Originally Posted by ms. kat

Awhile back in an article for Slate.com he (author Christopher Hitchens) appeared to be defending the practice of waterboarding. He basically repeated the Republican talking points that claimed waterboarding is an “extreme interrogation technique” but not really torture. A lot of folks called him on it and suggested that if it’s not torture, then perhaps he should give it a go himself to prove it.
To his credit, he actually did it.
In a Vanity Fair article, he talks about why he did it and what it was like.

You can see for yourself how long he lasted, it wasn't very long, in a video they taped of him going through with it.
You can watch the video here.

I am not stating one way or the other if waterboarding is torture or not, but I do think it's very cool that someone put their money where their mouth is so to speak, and actually volunteered to have this done.
I don't know if the use of towels as well as the hood is a normal part of the procedure, and I'm sure they didn't use the same amount of water on him as they would with someone they were truly interrogating, but it was a very interesting article to read, and the video was also interesting to watch.

Who said water boarding was pleasant?