Waterboarding: The Psychological Damage Is Indescribable

Peter Hitchens lasted seconds under waterboarding, and they say it isn't torture.

Until recently, “waterboarding” was something that Americans did to other Americans. It was inflicted, and endured, by those members of the special forces who underwent the advanced form of training known as Sere (survival, evasion, resistance, escape). In these harsh exercises, brave men and women were introduced to the sorts of barbarism that they might expect to meet at the hands of a lawless foe who disregarded the Geneva conventions. It was something that Americans were being trained to resist, not to inflict.

Exploring this narrow but deep distinction on a gorgeous day, I found myself deep in the hill country of western North Carolina, preparing to be surprised by a team of extremely hardened veterans who had confronted their country’s enemies in arduous terrain all over the world. They were going to show me as nearly as possible what real waterboarding might be like.

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