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Absolutely no one should be surprised by this. Talk show host Erich Muller wanted to prove to his audience that waterboarding wasn't torture. So he had himself waterboarded. The result?

Muller lasted half the length of the SERE training session before he threw his safeword token, a toy cow, across the room and ended the session.

"I wanted to prove it wasn't torture," Muller said. "They cut off our heads, we put water on their face. … I really thought 'I'm going to laugh this off.' It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that's no joke. … I don't want to say this: absolutely torture."

So when will Sean Hannity put out on his promise to allow himself to be waterboarded? I haven't been watching MSNBC recently, but I have to watch tonight's Olbermann just to see what he says about this.

I'm kinda pleased with the use of a safeword, myself.

Date: 2009-05-22 09:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] mouser.livejournal.com
Same thing he's been saying EVERY night.

"It's been X days since Sean Hannity promised to be waterboarded for charity, thus X-1 days my offer of $1000 dollars per second he lasts, this X-2 days since he's reneged on his promise. Let's play oddball..."

Date: 2009-05-22 10:52 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gromm.livejournal.com
Heh. The article in question has an example of why it's important to be anal about punctuation.

"Shock jocks shock" should be "Shock jock's shock". The first is a definition. The latter is a headline.

Not the same

Date: 2009-05-23 12:44 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ideaphile.livejournal.com
It's my understanding that the technique used on Muller is not the same as the technique used by the US and outlawed in 2003. In the US technique, plastic film was placed over the face to prevent water from entering the nose or mouth, and each application was brief enough to eliminate the risk of asphyxiation.

Naturally when US personnel are trained to resist waterboarding, they're exposed to the far more severe and dangerous methods used by interrogators who are actually evil and not merely trying to appear scary-- the methods described here and in that Hitchens piece last year.

. png

Date: 2009-05-23 01:43 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emeric1120.livejournal.com
Actually, he rescinded the challenge, announced that Mancow got the promised $10k (IIRC) for his charity, and told Hannity that he was now irrelevant. Oh, yeah, and then it was time for Oddball.

Re: Not the same

Date: 2009-05-23 02:09 pm (UTC)
From: (Anonymous)
http://72.3.233.244/pdfs/safefree/olc_08012002_bybee.pdf

"In this procedure, the individual is bound securely to an inclined bench, which is approximately four feet by seven feet. The individual's feet are generally elevated. A cloth is placed over the forehead and eyes. Water is then applied to the cloth in a controlled manner. As this is done, the cloth is lowered until it covers both the nose and mouth. Once the cloth is saturated and completely covers the mouth and nose, air flow is slightly restricted for 20 to 40 seconds due to the presence of the cloth. [...] During those 20 to 40 seconds, water is continuously applied from a height of twelve to twenty-four inches. After this period, the cloth is lifted, and the individual is allowed to breathe unimpeded for three or four full breaths. [...] The procedure may then be repeated. The water is usually applied from a canteen cup or small watering can with a spout. You have [...] informed us that it is likely that this procedure would not last more than 20 minutes in any one application"

Followup

Date: 2009-05-30 07:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tehrasha.livejournal.com
http://gawker.com/5272691/mancows-waterboarding-was-completely-fake

Funny, we dont hear much about this....

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