drown em till they talk , or...this is your brain on waterboarding

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Waterboarding is a method of torture used in coercive interrogations or for punishment. In modern practice it simulates drowning and produces a severe gag reflex, making the subject believe his death is imminent while ideally not causing permanent physical trauma to him.

The practice became controversial in the early 21st century when reports surfaced that the Bush administration had used it in the interrogation of U.S. War on Terrorism detainees.

In the historical form of waterboarding, a victim was strapped to a board and tipped back or lowered into a body of water until he or she believed that drowning was imminent. The subject was then removed from the water and revived. If necessary the process was repeated.

Although in a technical sense there are actually several other forms of water-based interrogation, all variants have in common that the victim reliably almost drowns but is rescued or re-animated by his captor just before death occurs. The technique is designed to be both psychological and physical. The psychological effect is inherent in the fact that the victim is given to understand that he shall be killed outright by dint of enforced drowning unless his cooperation as demanded is indeed produced promptly. This perception reinforces the interrogator's control and gives the victim sound cause to experience mortal fear.

The physical effects are extreme pain and damage to the lungs, brain damage caused by oxygen deprivation and sometimes broken bones because of the restraints applied to the struggling victim. The psychological effects can be longlasting...

Dr. Allen Keller, the director of the Bellevue/N.Y.U. Program for Survivors of Torture, has treated "a number of people" who had been subjected to forms of near-asphyxiation, including waterboarding. An interview for The New Yorker states:

[Dr. Keller] argued that it was indeed torture. Some victims were still traumatized years later, he said. One patient couldn't take showers, and panicked when it rained. "The fear of being killed is a terrifying experience," he said.

*the movies' "best example" of waterboarding ? i thought the waterboarding done to the mel gibson character in the movie "conspiracy theory" was worse


excerpts from "Senate Approves Broad New Rules to Try Detainees"
By KATE ZERNIKE

WASHINGTON, Sept. 28 The Senate approved a measure on Thursday on the interrogations and trials of terrorism suspects, establishing far-reaching rules to deal with what President Bush has called the most dangerous combatants in a different type of war...

It would make illegal several broadly defined abuses of detainees, while leaving it to the president to establish specific permissible interrogation techniques. And it would strip detainees of a habeas corpus right to challenge their detentions in court...

The bill is the same as one that the House passed, eliminating the need for a conference between the two chambers. The House is expected to approve the Senate bill Friday, sending it to the president to be signed...


Democrats argued that the rules were being rushed through for political gain too close to a major election and that they would fundamentally threaten the foundations of the American legal system and come back to haunt lawmakers as one of the greatest mistakes in history...


Twelve Democrats crossed party lines to vote for the bill. One Republican, Senator Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island, voted against it...

The measure would broaden the definition of enemy combatants beyond the traditional definition used in wartime, to include noncitizens living legally in the United States as well as those in foreign countries and anyone determined to be an enemy combatant under criteria defined by the president or secretary of defense.

It would strip at Guantanamo detainees of the habeas right to challenge their detention in court, relying instead on procedures known as combatant status review trials. Those trials have looser rules of evidence than the courts.

It would allow of evidence seized in this country or abroad without a search warrant to be admitted in trials.

The bill would also bar the admission of evidence obtained by cruel and inhuman treatment, except any obtained before Dec. 30, 2005, when Congress enacted the Detainee Treatment Act, that a judge declares reliable and probative.

Democrats said the date was conveniently set after the worst abuses at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo...




they are fascists.

they steal elections , they stage terrorist attacks and then blame the terrorism on "straw men" that they created .

they "detain" enemies , torture people , create secret prisons hidden from public scrutiny , they spy on critics ,tear up the people's god given rights, buy off and intimidate a complacent corrupt media .

they loot the public treasury , make war on lies and whims , rewrite the laws of conquered nations in order to steal the conquered people's oil , topple duly elected governments , assassinate elected leaders , spread 4 million pounds of depleted uranium dust around the globe through our common air and water... they are mass murderers , assassins , and fascists , plain and simple.

think about it.

without the declaration of independence , there is no justification for a constitution -- with no constitution , no bill of rights, aka the first 10 amendments to the constitution.

the declaration of independence asserts "that we hold these truths to be SELF EVIDENT , THAT ALL MEN (*which now would read as ALL HUMANS) ARE CREATED EQUAL AND ENDOWED BY THEIR CREATOR WITH CERTAIN INALIENABLE RIGHTS --among which are life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness"

the 1776 declaration of independence was in effect ALSO a declaration of war against rule by the british crown . they were explaining WHY they had chosen to resort to force , if necessary , to sever the bonds of british rule.

the constitution , which begins with opening phrase in its preamble , "We THE PEOPLE, " came much later--1789-- AFTER the war against british rule was won and the "self evident" principles stated in the declaration of independence were FOREVER set in stone as the foundation and guiding roadmap for whatever new nation that the liberated colonials would arrive at.

The point is this: the constitution and bill of rights --the first 10 amendments to the constitution DON"T GIVE RIGHTS--they only serve as written GUARANTEES of the rights all equal human beings have been ENDOWED with from birth by their creator .

the declaration of independence is intended to say that proof isn't even needed that all human beings have these rights BECAUSE IT'S ALREADY "SELF EVIDENT" and that it's also SELF EVIDENT that government's "authority" comes only from consent of the governed .

they are also saying by their subsequent actions that they would go to war with their government--the british crown --to preserve these god-given rights and their upset-victory in the war over the superpower of that day--england-- was viewed as more "self evident" proof of the correctness of the former colonials' analysis and correctness of their actions--war against the tyrant who had usurped their god given liberties --- the declaration goes further to say that it is not only your right , but your DUTY to yourselves and your creator to use force- if necessary- to oppose ANY government that has overstepped its bounds and refuses to allow peaceful redress of greivance and ignores all reasonable demands that it cease violating the rights endowed in "we the people" by our creator.

in other words , these "rights to life , liberty and the pursuit of happiness" cannot be taken away by government--any government-- because government didn't give them out in the first place --the creator did--these god-given rights, along with human intellect are intrinsic to the condition of being human-- sine qua non --"without this, nothing!" --without our minds and our god-given freedoms we slip below the state of being what we were created for , and intended to be

and secondly , these god given rights apply to ALL humans --american humans and otherwise --because it is held as "self evident" truth that ALL HUMANS ARE CREATED EQUAL .

therefore ALL humans have equal rights and designations such as "enemy combatant" are irrelevant , false and simply cannot apply .

any people designated as such , cannot be treated in anyway that violates the rights they were endowed with at birth by the creator...

--to grant government powers to take away your rights is self-negating of that "divine endowment" the declaration of independence speaks of .that divine endowment is the EVERYTHING that everything that is america , is supposed to be based upon.

in this case , self-negation is akin to suicide .

if rights ultimately derive from the creator and not the government , then the government cannot take rights away from the people--without denigrating the creator , without denigrating the creation and without usurping the rights of "we the people" --the source upon whom all governmental authority solely depends .


come election time--or sooner , sweep out the house and the senate of all the apologists , mouth pieces and water carriers for fascism .