I'm disgusted at how the news is demonstrating the act of water boarding

[Fleshdancer]

ABC is showing one man pouring water on the face of another guy who's just laying there like it's a casual, normal thing to do. Is this why asshats like Limbaugh equate it to hazing? If this is how it's portrayed, then no wonder there's a debate over whether it's torture or not.

:wtf:

[XOKCowboy]

1. What news where??

Fox? MSNBC?

[Fleshdancer]

3. ABC 's World News Saturday

You could seriously put the "victim" on a chair and in an off-shoulder sweatshirt and it would be a scene from Flashdance. :eyes:

[DS1]

10. Nice

Fleshdancer!

[LaurenG]

2. It's torture no matter how they spin it.

:(

[siligut]

4. Standard line for ostriches.

It is your fault for wanting to face reality, silly rabbit.

[Orrex]

5. Of all people, sometime-Neocon Christopher Hitchens gave a chilling, compelling account of it

But I agree with you; when they demonstrate this sanitized version of it, it normalizes the practice in the public's mind.

When it's done for real, I'm sure that it's not a nice, quiet, warmly lit venue, either. I imagine there's a lot of shouting and other stress-enhancing stimuli going on, too.

[Fleshdancer]

8. I should be content with Hitchens speaking out against it now...

it just freaks me out that he had to personally experience it in a controlled environment in order to see it for what it was. At the end of the day though, he was able to get there and he did report on it and I do appreciate that. It's tough for me to not be snarky about it, but I'm trying. ;)

[Orrex]

9. No, you make a great point

A full-fledged human being should be able to read a description of the technique and say "no shit that's torture." I applaud Hitchens for modifying his stance on it, but it is indeed disturbing that some people need to witness it first-hand before they can accept the horror of it.

[DS1]

11. Yep, he lasted about half a second

[Canuckistanian]

6. Did they slap the guy around first?

Did they deprive him of sleep for two days and threaten to kill him? Chain him to a wall for a few hours in a stress position?

That's what always missing from these "demonstrations" - the fear of death and the sheer terror of being subjected to pain and humiliation.

[burning rain]

7. And in these contrived situations....

the guy with the water being poured on him knows he isn't going to be hurt, so it isn't comparable psychologically.

[Democracyinkind]

12. "Oh my, Billy, don't worry. All in all it's stuff that we used to do in college.

Am I living in Bizarro world?

Jack Bauer sure has done his job. The spin is... unfathomable... even I would never have believed that anyone would have the audacity of spinning it this way. It's not just the graphics. the language. OMFG!

[stillcool]

13. Not surprising from ABC..

but thoroughly disgusting. I guess they didn't read the memos.