Page 9 of 9

Measuring the Commodity of Human Breathing

In our discussion yesterday concerning waterboarding, I began to reflect upon the greater — and immeasurable — value of human breathing and its punishments both invoked and self-sustained.

Continue reading → Measuring the Commodity of Human Breathing

A Brief History of Waterboarding

We are having a heated political discussion in the USA this week wondering if waterboarding is torture or not as Michael Mukasey faces a Senate confirmation hearing on his attorney general nomination — but waterboarding has a long history as part of the human core in antiquity:

Waterboarding is a technique in which prisoners are subjected to simulated drowning by binding them to an inclined board, with their feet raised and head a bit below their feet. Then cellophane or cloth is wrapped over a prisoner’s face and water is poured over the person.

Vietnam 1968: In Da Nang, the U.S. military used waterboarding as an interrogation technique:

Continue reading → A Brief History of Waterboarding