Is waterboarding torture?
Yes, at least yes for a jillion years, as this writer points out. It's part of a report on how journalism, which had called waterboarding torture from the dawn of time until, oh, about 2004, suddenly stopped describing it as such. He calls journalists cowardly for suddenly not calling it torture, a technique used by evil dictators throughout history. The full report, in annoying pdf format, is here.
Do people think it's torture? Back in 2009, 60 percent of Americans in a poll described it as torture. A little over a third said it was not torture. Three percent, having never undergone the treatment, were unsure. In another poll the same year, 71 percent described it as torture.
Yeah, it's torture. Of course it is -- except, perhaps for some, when we're doing it. Then it's not so much torture as an enhanced interrogation technique, which is a nice way of saying ... torture.
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