As the Bush Administration quibbles over whether or not the
interrogation practice known as waterboarding can be considered
torture under the Geneva Convention, one veteran speaks definitively
in today's Washington Post.
"As someone who has experienced waterboarding, albeit
in a controlled setting, I know that the act is indeed torture,"
opens Richard E. Mezo.
Stationed in California in 1963, Mezo describes what he went
through as part of his Navy training, which included being placed
in a simulated POW camp that was modeled on encounters with
Korean and Chinese forces.
"As a nation," Mezo appeals, "we must ask our
leaders, elected and appointed, to be aware of such horrors;
we must ask them to stop the narrow and superficial thinking
that hinges upon "legal" definitions and to use common
sense."
(Article continues below)
"Waterboarding is torture," he concludes, "and
torture is clearly a crime against humanity."
EXCERPTS:
#
We were all interrogated a few times, some of us more than others.
During one interrogation, I was led blindfolded into a room.
Suddenly one of the "enemy" hit me hard in the stomach
-- a sucker punch that left me doubled over, out of breath.
I think three other people were present, but I was never sure.
Two men grabbed me at my sides. They put a pole of some kind
under my knees and bent me over backward. My head went down
lower than the rest of my body.
The questions (What is your unit? Where are you from?) were
asked by one man. But we were not supposed to talk. I remember
that the blindfold was heavy and completely covered my face.
As the two men held me down, one on each side, someone began
pouring water onto the blindfold, and suddenly I was drowning.
The water streamed into my nose and then into my mouth when
I gasped for breath. I couldn't stop it. All I could breathe
was water, and it was terrifying. I think I began to lose consciousness.
I felt my lungs begin to fill with burning liquid.
Even though I knew that I was in a military facility and that
my "captors" would not kill me, no matter what they
threatened, my body sensed and reacted to the danger it was
in. Adrenaline helped me to fight out of the position the men
were holding me in. I can't really explain how I managed to
stand up, still with one man clinging to each arm. I only know
how horrible it was. The experience was probably only a few
minutes, but to me it seemed much longer.
#
The entire article is available HERE.
