Man waterboards self to see if it’s torture

We've blogged here before about waterboarding, citing a counterterrorism expert who says that waterboarding is unquestionably torture. Now check out this account, over at the Straight Dope message board, in which a guy with the username Scylla describes how he tried waterboarding himself to get a definitive, personal answer on whether it's as horrible as everyone says. He considers himself very fit and is training for a 100-mile endurance run. He says he has an especially high threshold for pain. He was once a free-diver, held his breath for more than 4 minutes, and when training as a lifeguard, once swam without breathing until he passed out. Throughout his post, he also repeatedly pokes fun at "liberal scum," in case you're wondering what his political point of view is.

First, Scylla tries basic waterboarding, lying on an incline and pouring water in his face with a watering can. He says it's not so bad. Then he tries a more advanced technique, doing it with a wet rag in his mouth. He says it's unpleasant, but not torturous. Then Scylla tries using saran wrap, by wrapping several layers around his mouth and poking a hole through which he can pour water. This is what he says:

It seems that there is a point that is hardwired in us. When we draw water into our respiratory tract to this point we are no longer in control. All hell breaks loose. Instinct tells us we are dying.

I have never been more panicked in my whole life. Once your lungs are empty and collapsed and they start to draw fluid it is simply all over. You know you are dead and it's too late. Involuntary and total panic. There is absolutely nothing you can do about it. It would be like telling you not to blink while I stuck a hot needle in your eye. At the time my lungs emptied and I began to draw water, I would have sold my children to escape. There was no choice, or chance, and willpower was not involved. I never felt anything like it, and this was self-inflicted with a watering can, where I was in total control and never in any danger. And I understood.

If I had the choice of being waterboarded by a third party or having my fingers smashed one at a time by a sledgehammer, I'd take the fingers, no question.

It's horrible, terrible, inhuman torture. I can hardly imagine worse. I'd prefer permanent damage and disability to experiencing it again. I'd give up anything, say anything, do anything.

The Spanish Inquisition knew this. It was one of their favorite methods.

It's torture. No question. Terrible terrible torture. To experience it and understand it and then do it to another human being is to leave the realm of sanity and humanity forever. No question in my mind.

(Hat tip: Kottke)