Born Again Bush: Inquisition Time Again

WWJD?

According to a recent Reuters article President Bush is convinced that the USA has "..embarked on the latest great religious awakening of it's history."

This might explain his desire to step back into the middle-ages and borrow a technique of interrogation that was developed during the 15th century by the Italian Inquisition: Waterboarding.

This technique has been used many times over the centuries by various religious and governmental bodies. It has been used to ferret out heretics, witches, and Satan worshipers by many a devout Christian over the years from Rome to Spain and even to the new world of Salem, Massachusetts. Governments have also employed this particular torture in modern times from Southeast Asia to South America and on to the Middle-East this has been a favourite of interrogators because it leaves no physical signs of torture.

It is simply convincing someone that they are being drowned. A mock execution that deprives the prisoner of air while either dipping them into water, pouring water over them, or various other means of simulating drowning. The struggling prisoner is quite often willing to tell his inquisitors whatever they wish to hear.

According to Wikpedia: "The modern practice of waterboarding, characterized in 2005 by former CIA director Porter J. Goss as a "professional interrogation technique", [citation needed] involves tying the victim to a board with the head lower than the feet so that he or she is unable to move. A piece of cloth is held tightly over the face, and water is poured onto the cloth. Breathing is extremely difficult and the victim will be in fear of imminent death by asphyxiation.

However, it is relatively difficult to aspirate a large amount of water since the lungs are higher than the mouth, and the victim is unlikely to actually die if this is done by skilled practitioners. Waterboarding may be used by captors who wish to impose anguish without leaving marks on their victims as evidence. [citation needed] Journalists Brian Ross and Richard Esposito described the CIA's waterboarding technique as follows:

The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt. According to the sources, CIA officers who subjected themselves to the water boarding technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in. They said al Qaeda's toughest prisoner, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, won the admiration of interrogators when he was able to last over two minutes before begging to confess. "The person believes they are being killed, and as such, it really amounts to a mock execution, which is illegal under international law," said John Sifton of Human Rights Watch.[1]

Imagine what George and Co. would get up to if they weren't Born Again Christians and didn't believe they would one day have to answer to the Prince of Peace?