waterboarding: DIY

Christopher Hitchens, who supports the Iraq war, but is critical of many aspects of the Bush administration has done something which I think is amazing, admirable and enlightening

He wanted to be able to assess whether waterboarding was torture and so he organised himself to be waterboarded and has written not just a descriptive but also a reflective piece about it - and also released a video of the event

Believe me, it's torture (article)
on the waterboard (video)

Some might dismiss this as a publicity stunt or as a way for an already controversial character to become more controversial and widely read. That may be partially true - (nevertheless, I admire his guts for submitting himself to something which he now acknowledges is torture) - but read page 2 of Hitchens' article where he canvasses in detail the two opposing opinions of whether the United States should use waterboarding. I won't quote since to do this topic justice you need to read the whole of Hitchens' article. The deeply reflective aspect of Hitchen's writing, which is always present, should not be missed in this case.