It sounds simple. You have a board, some water, and a piece of cloth. But what is waterboarding torture, really? If you ask a physicist, they might describe it as a controlled drowning simulation. If you ask a human rights lawyer, they’ll call it a war crime.
Honestly, it’s one of the most visceral techniques ever devised by humans to break other humans.
You’ve probably seen it in movies or heard it mentioned in snippets of political debates from the mid-2000s. There's this persistent myth that it’s just "unpleasant." It isn't. It is a calculated physiological trick that hijacks the brain’s most basic survival instinct: the need to breathe. When you’re strapped down and water starts pouring over your nose and mouth, your body doesn't think it’s a drill. It thinks it is dying.
Right now.
The Mechanics of Panic
The setup is basic but terrifying. A person is strapped to a plank or a bench, usually with their feet elevated above their head. This Trendelenburg position is intentional. It keeps the water from entering the lungs too quickly—which would just kill the subject—and instead focuses the sensation on the upper airways.
A cloth is placed over the face. Then, the water starts.
Because the cloth is saturated, it creates a seal. As the person tries to inhale, they draw in water and wet fabric instead of oxygen. Dr. Allen Keller, who has treated many torture victims at the Bellevue/NYU Program for Survivors of Torture, has been very clear about this: the gag reflex kicks in, the throat goes into spasms, and the person experiences the "horror of impending death."
It’s not just "getting wet." It’s an involuntary biological panic.
You can’t "tough it out" because your autonomic nervous system is in charge. Some people break in seconds. During the CIA’s enhanced interrogation program, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was reportedly waterboarded 183 times. Think about that number for a second. That isn't 183 sessions; it’s 183 applications of the technique. It shows a level of clinical repetition that feels more like a lab experiment than an interrogation.
What Is Waterboarding Torture in the Eyes of the Law?
The legal status of waterboarding has been a massive, swirling mess for decades. Is it torture? Or is it just "enhanced interrogation"?
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Historically, the U.S. was actually very clear on this. After World War II, the United States prosecuted Japanese soldiers for waterboarding American prisoners. We called it a war crime then. We even court-martialed a U.S. soldier in 1901 during the Philippine-American War for using the "water cure."
But everything changed after 9/11.
The Bush administration’s "Torture Memos," largely drafted by John Yoo at the Office of Legal Counsel, tried to redefine torture. They argued that for something to be torture, the pain had to be equivalent to "organ failure, impairment of bodily function, or even death." Since waterboarding didn't (usually) leave permanent physical scars or broken bones, they argued it wasn't technically torture.
It was a linguistic shell game.
Eventually, the tide turned. In 2009, President Obama signed Executive Order 13491, which effectively banned the practice by requiring the CIA to follow the Army Field Manual. The manual specifically prohibits "waterboarding." Most international bodies, including the United Nations, view it as a violation of the UN Convention Against Torture.
The Survival Myth and the SERE Program
One reason people think waterboarding isn't "that bad" is because our own military personnel undergo it. Members of the U.S. military who go through SERE (Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape) training are often subjected to a version of waterboarding.
But there’s a huge difference.
The soldiers know it’s a drill. They know there’s a medic standing by. They know their instructors aren't actually going to let them die.
When you’re in a "black site" in a country you don't recognize, and your captors are people who genuinely hate you, that psychological safety net is gone. The trauma isn't just the water; it’s the total loss of control and the certainty that your life is ending.
Does It Actually Work?
This is the big question. If you’re going to do something this brutal, does it at least give you the "ticking time bomb" info everyone talks about?
The consensus among professional interrogators is a resounding no.
Ali Soufan, a former FBI agent who actually interrogated high-level Al-Qaeda targets, has been a vocal critic. He argues that when you torture someone, they will tell you anything to make the pain stop. They don't give you the truth; they give you what they think you want to hear.
- You get false leads.
- You waste precious resources chasing ghosts.
- You lose the moral high ground.
- The subject's memory becomes scrambled by trauma.
The Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture, released in 2014, basically confirmed this. It found that the "enhanced" techniques weren't an effective way of acquiring intelligence. In many cases, the most useful information was gathered before the waterboarding began, through traditional rapport-building techniques.
It turns out, talking to people works better than drowning them.
The Long-Term Physical and Mental Toll
People assume that because you walk away from the board, you’re "fine."
You’re not.
Physically, waterboarding can cause extreme lung damage, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, and broken bones from struggling against the restraints. But the psychological damage is often worse. Survivors frequently suffer from chronic PTSD, night terrors, and a permanent, crushing fear of water. Imagine not being able to take a shower without having a panic attack.
That’s the reality for many who have been through it.
Even the people performing the waterboarding often suffer. There are accounts of CIA officers being deeply disturbed by what they were ordered to do. It’s a process that dehumanizes everyone involved—the victim and the interrogator alike.
A Global Perspective on the "Water Cure"
Waterboarding isn't a modern American invention. It’s been around for centuries, often popping up under different names.
During the Spanish Inquisition, it was called toca. They used a cloth and a jar of water (the cántaro). The French used it during the Algerian War of Independence, calling it le bidon. The Khmer Rouge used it in Cambodia; you can still see the boards and the equipment at the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh.
It’s a "favorite" of regimes because it’s cheap and leaves no marks. It’s the "perfect" crime for an authoritarian who wants to crush a person’s spirit without leaving a bloody mess for the cameras.
Modern Perception and Pop Culture
We have a weird relationship with this topic. Shows like 24 made it seem like torture was the only way to save the world. It created this "Jack Bauer" syndrome where the public started to believe that being "tough" was the same as being "effective."
But real-world intelligence is boring. It’s about data, linguistics, and building trust.
When we talk about what is waterboarding torture, we have to move past the Hollywood version. We have to look at the clinical, cold reality of a person being tied to a board and suffocated. It’s a practice that sits at the intersection of psychology, politics, and raw, primal fear.
The debate usually boils down to one thing: Who are we as a society? If we use the same methods as the "bad guys," is there still a difference?
Moving Forward: Actionable Insights on Human Rights and Ethics
Understanding the reality of waterboarding is about more than just history; it's about being an informed citizen in a world where these debates frequently resurface. If you want to dive deeper into the ethics of interrogation or support the prevention of such practices, here are the most effective ways to engage:
- Read the Declassified Reports: Don't rely on pundits. Go to the source. The Executive Summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on the CIA's Detention and Interrogation Program is available online. It’s a dense read, but it provides the most factual look at how these programs actually functioned.
- Support Legal Oversight: Organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) work specifically on the legal frameworks that prevent the return of "enhanced interrogation."
- Learn About Rapport-Based Interrogation: Research the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG). This is the multi-agency unit that moved the U.S. toward evidence-based interrogation methods. Learning how they work provides a fascinating counter-narrative to the "necessity" of torture.
- Advocate for Transparency: International groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch track the use of "water-based" torture in modern conflicts today. Staying informed through their newsletters helps keep the issue in the public eye, which is the biggest deterrent for governments.
The history of waterboarding shows us that while the tools are simple, the implications are massive. It’s a technique that tests the limits of human endurance and the strength of a nation’s laws.
The question isn't just "what is it," but whether we ever want to see it used in our name again.