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REGION: North America
TOPIC: Law
Online NewsHour
FORUM
Posted: November 14, 2007

Ask Questions on Waterboarding

 Forum Introduction
Interrogation room The interrogation tactic known as waterboarding, or simulated drowning, has grabbed headlines in recent weeks and stirred legal and ethical debates. Malcolm Nance, a former Navy Seals instructor and Neil Livingstone, CEO of Executive Action, take your questions on the controversial technique.
QUESTIONS
Hasn't torture historically provoked anger?
How should the U.S. respond if our service-members were subjected to waterboarding?
Have pop culture's depictions of torture influenced our view of it?
Isn't it better to have a lead and even if the the information came from duress?
What is the difference between imitation torture and actual torture?
Have there been any studies on the efficacy of waterboarding to get information?
Why is waterboarding being employed now when we have faced great threats in the past?
Are there any non-coercive measures of gaining information?
Christopher Rodriguez of Boston, Mass., asks:
Do you think pop culture's depictions of torture as a fruitful means to extract evidence has influenced our way of looking at torture? I'm think of the show "24."
ANSWERS
Malcolm Nance responds:
Malcolm Nance responds:

NO! This is the greatest obstacle we have to stopping the public acceptance to torture. Popular culture heroizes torture as 9/11 revenge fantasy, when in fact torturers are globally despised as criminals.

Neil Livingstone responds:
Neil Livingstone responds:

Popular culture is a problem in terms of our perceptions regarding torture. Nevertheless, it should be recognized that, despite what some say, it does work in many cases. When I taught Latin American security forces how to interrogate without abusing a prisoner, I always had the problem of convincing them that I was right and they were wrong because torture did, in some circumstances, work.


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