Here’s the link:

http://blog.indecisionforever.com/2009/04/29/jon-stewarts-extended-interview-with-cliff-may/

Great stuff, seriously! Even May says himself, “Literally, this is the best conversation I have had on this subject anywhere.”

Water boarding is the new fad when it comes to interrogating suspected terrorists nowadays, but to hold such of view of this ancient practice is to be just plain ignorant.  Contrary to public belief, water boarding is not a “new” method of “enhanced interrogation” but is actually a torture practice dating back to the 14^th century.  Now of course, back then there were definitely harsher interrogation techniques, but nevertheless water boarding was believed to be a form of torture.  As in matter in fact, the phenomenon of calling it a form of “enhanced interrogation” is actually quite recent.

First, let’s look at the history of water boarding.  It was the Spanish Inquisition that first implemented it and since then it has been used throughout the Middle Ages.  Once the Enlightenment hit however, some people became “enlightened” and thought the practice as barbaric and inhumane.  So soon after, the practice moved away from the public eye and was done rarely and secretly.  In the 20^th century however, water boarding made a comeback as the Brits used it in Palestine, the French in Algeria, the U.S. in the Philippines, the Japanese in World War II, and the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

Focusing more on the U.S.’s history with water boarding, during the Spanish American War, a U.S. major implemented it.  Consequently, that major was suspended for a month and fined; the reason was, according to the judge, because “the United States cannot afford to sanction the addition of torture.”  It’s also important to note that the U.S. convicted a Japanese official in 1947 of war crimes for water boarding an American civilian. The criminal was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor.  Another case of water boarding happened in the Vietnam War, when an American soldier was found to have water boarded a North Vietnamese soldier to extract information.  The U.S. military promptly investigated and had the soldier court martialed. 

So, this all begs the question, why is water boarding torture?  Well I think common sense alone can explain this quite sufficiently, but for those more in tune with the artificial legality of things, perhaps this will help.  According to the UN Convention of Torture that President Ronald Reagan signed, “torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him…information…” Now if you’re at this point in the article and still don’t think water boarding is torture; I highly recommend you go and experience water boarding.  Perhaps then, after you undergo simulated drowning with your throat being filled with water 83 times, or in the case of Khalid Sheik Muhammad, 183 times; maybe then you’ll realize water boarding does actually cause “severe pain” and “suffering” that is both “physical” and “mental.”  And please, don’t pull any Orwellian shenanigans.