Index IntroductionThe use of waterboarding in the United StatesArguments for waterboardingArguments against waterboardingConclusionIntroductionWaterboarding has been a tactic used to extract information from suspects for hundreds of years. Although recently it has been seen as a problem by the media and general public. Some people think it's not humane to waterboard someone. Some people think that waterboarding could potentially save the lives of hundreds if not thousands of people. It's a harsh tactic that some might call very effective, yet it leaves irreparable psychological damage. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay After September 11, 2001, the U.S. government relied on trained military instructors for information on difficult interrogation methods. One of them was the waterboarding method. Waterboarding is a type of aquatic torment in which water is poured onto a material covering the face and respiratory inlets of a tied hostage, causing the individual to feel as if they are suffocating. Normally the water is poured discontinuously so that the hostage does not die from drowning during torture, if the water is poured continuously it will cause the transition to asphyxiation with a sensation of suffocation, also called dry suffocation. In addition to death, waterboarding can cause excruciating torment, lung damage and brain damage due to oxygen starvation. This essay discusses the US government's use of waterboarding during the Bush administration and whether this was an acceptable method of interrogation. use of waterboarding in the United States After 9/11, the CIA was willing to do whatever was necessary to find the people responsible for the terrible attacks. Not just the people responsible for the attacks, but anyone could take part in future attacks on the United States. The CIA has introduced a harsh tactic for some of its detainees known as waterboarding. The CIA would use enhanced interrogation, such as waterboarding, for extended periods of time. Waterboarding these terrorists was very challenging, physically and mentally. There were terrorists who went through horrible spasms or became so sick they vomited. An example of a detainee who faced these harsh interrogations was Abu Zabaydah. Abu would have fainted, with foam coming out of his mouth. Abu wasn't the only one to have severe reactions to the waterboarding treatment. Khalid Shaykh Mohammad was severely waterboarded and nearly drowned several times. At the same time, the United States was in a desperate bid to bring people to justice for their horrific crimes. In December 2014, the United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence (SSCI) completed a report on the Central Intelligence Agency's (CIA) Detention and Interrogation Program for the years 2001-2006 during the War on Terrorism. The brutal interrogation techniques used by the CIA in subsequent years, which bordered on torture, did not work. Its authors judge the decisions in the name of current criticism in the war on terrorism to be excessive, if not entirely wrong. “The fear of a new terrorist attack does not justify poor decisions by organizations in the name of national security,” the report finds. The report sheds light on Bush's violent practices, talking about the use of waterboarding, during which many prisoners risked drowning, but also other violent practices. Waterboarding is amethod which has been characterized by the United Nations as a practice of torture and involves questioning the interrogator on a table. Then they cover their face with a cloth, which constantly spits, causing a feeling of suffocation. Sleep deprivation that required prisoners to be kept awake for 180 hours, usually in an upright position and often with their hands above their heads. In one of the CIA camps, a prisoner lost his life to hypothermia, leaving himself half naked and chained to concrete. Sometimes naked prisoners with hoods over their faces shuffled along the corridors while being brutally beaten. Arguments in favor of waterboarding Some people still argue today that the waterboarding interrogation tactics used by the CIA worked. People might even think that waterboarding suspects can gather information more quickly than normal interrogations. Michael Hayden, former CIA director, said enhanced interrogations lead to a lot of information about al Qaeda. Hayden even went so far as to say that half of the knowledge the government had was due to interrogations, such as waterboarding. From these harsh interrogations a lot of very valuable information emerged. Khalid Sheikh Mohammed is said to have broken down very easily once subjected to interrogations such as waterboarding. Mohammed provided important information, such as bin Laden's nickname. Reporting this type of information helped the CIA find and capture Bin Laden. As many Americans know, Bin Laden was one of the main leaders behind the September 11 attacks. The next big name inmate was Abu Zubaydah. Abu also underwent waterboarding. Abu opened up and provided information that contributed to the capture of Ramzi bin al Shibh. Capturing Shibh was huge for the US because it gave up crucial information on KSM and other major terrorists (Mukasey, 2011). One of the strongest arguments regarding these interrogations is that waterboarding was not used on every single terrorist suspect. Waterboarding was used on a few select individuals who were good at handling other types of interrogations. There have been thousands of detainees arrested by the United States (Mukasey, 2011). The number of people who were interrogated by the CIA program was less than 100. Of the 100 people, less than a third underwent the harsh interrogation tactics used by the CIA. Even former Vice President Dick Cheney defended the program by stating that “it is a tougher program, for tougher clients” (Crook, 2008, p. 360). Waterboarding was once again a desperation for the United States. Many agree that these high-level terrorists may never have spoken if the United States had not introduced enhanced interrogation such as waterboarding. Some potential plots may never have been discovered, or some high-level terrorists may never have been brought to justice. Arguments Against Waterboarding Today, a majority of Americans would be completely against the use of waterboarding. Waterboarding would be considered inhumane or unethical. The Senate presented findings and conclusions that showed that the use of waterboarding did not exactly bring great results. Their records showed that seven of the 39 suspects who underwent extreme interrogation tactics, such as waterboarding, provided almost no valuable information. The other suspects who did not undergo the harsh treatments provided valuable information. Numerous detainees subjected to harsh interrogations, such as waterboarding, provided false information. Some of these suspected terrorists would even go so far as to lie about terrorist threats against them.