I really don’t like Christopher Hitchens, but I gotta give him props for agreeing to be waterboarded.  That is the real video of him being waterboarded, mind you.

He’s a pretty big Iraq War/War on Terror cheerleader, and supported our country’s interrogation tactics as well, but he put his money (and a wet towel) where his mouth is and subjected himself to it.  And he changed his mind.  He usually doesn’t back down from anything.

This is the second waterboarding video I’ve seen.  The other was a demonstration by a former security expert, I think.  To me, the most shocking thing about it is how little water is actually used.  It really doesn’t take much.  Hitchens described his movement to end the demonstration as entirely involuntary.  He only lasted about 15 seconds before it became unbearable.  That’s how long the first round would last if it had been a real “interrogation.”  And they would increase it to 30 seconds after that, and go for as long as they want.

Now we just need Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity to sign up.