Waterboarding and Torture, Cheney should demonstrate it's use.

"Waterboarding...consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forcing suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die." It has been used in the Spanish Inquisition and the Khmer Rouge. During World War II, it was used by Nazi Gestapo and Japanese Kempeitai. It was outlawed by U.S. generals during the the Vietnam War, with a U.S. Soldier recieving a courtmartial for waterboarding a North Vietnamese POW. John McCain, former Republican candidate for president and no stranger to torture, has described it as "very exquisite torture." A book that described its use during the French war in Algeria was banned in France because it included a first hand account that included:

"The rag was rapidly soaked. Water flowed everywhere: in my mouth, in my nose, all over my face. But for a while I could still breathe in some small gulps of air. I tried, by contracting my throat, to take in as little water as possible and to resist suffocation by keeping air in my lungs for as long as I could. But I couldn't hold on for more than a few moments. I had the impression of drowning, and a terrible agony, that of death itself, took possession of me. In spite of myself, all the muscles of my body struggled uselessly to save me from suffocation. In spite of myself, the fingers of my hands shook uncontrollably. "That's it! He's going to talk," said a voice. The water stopped and they took away the rag. I was able to breathe. In the gloom, I saw the lieutenants and the captain, who, with a cigarette between his lips, was hitting my stomach with his fist to make me throw out the water I had swallowed"

In spite of this long history of use as torture, Dick Cheney maintains a position that waterboarding is not torture. Further, he and his lawyers have provided legal justifications for using waterboarding. And further claim that it is the same waterboarding that is used for resistance training as a part of SERE, a Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape training program for military special operations units. However, Jesse Ventura, former Navy SEAL and governor of Minnesota has described the waterboarding he experienced as "torture...It's drowning. It is no good."

Of course Cheney, who happens to have never served in the military because he dodged the draft in order to flunk out of Yale, maintains that waterboarding is necessary to protect the lives of U.S. citizens and servicemen. He likes to ignore that he, along with Condoleeza Rice and Donald Rumsfeld, tried to use waterboarding as a means of establishing a link between Iraq and Al Qaeda, a non-existent link that resulted in a war that cost the lives of thousands of U.S. Warfighters.

If Cheney really wants to make the case that waterboarding is not torture, there is one avenue that remains conspicuously ignored. A demonstration for the American people. To really make his point, Cheney should have it demonstrated on himself, since it results in no extreme physical or mental pain or suffering. I would recommend that the proceedure be overlooked by experienced experts such as John McCain, Jesse Ventura, and SERE Psychologists who can ensure that the waterboarding is authentic. Given his dedication to protecting the lives of American citizens, this is a very small request of Mr. Cheney.