Quote:
Originally Posted by SmokeyTheBear
so in a nutshell you consented to be part of a program that may include waterboarding or other forms of torture, the difference is these people did not consent to be part of any programs that included torture.
Either way it is an insane analogy to say waterboarding prisoners is the same as waterboarding trainees, and i would highly doubt the veracity of any claims that if you did not consent to waterboarding you would have been subject to it anyways. Were you aware of what was going to take place at any time before being strapped in ? Were you given the oportunity to stop the procedure at any point ? I would very highly doubt you answer no to either of those questions.
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Yes...I became aware of what could happen...as I was not the first one in my class to be waterboarded...and learned from others what could happen. Not every person was treated to the same identical techniques as they wanted you unprepared as possible.
In my case when I became aware that I indeed was going to be waterboarded...the opt out to avoid it was to sign a piece of propaganda they presented to me. Which in the case of capture by a real enemy would be a violation of the Soldiers Code of Conduct...which is a Court Martial offense...and in this case failing the class.
Since I did not sign...I was physically forced to be waterboarded...as I physically resisted their efforts to waterboard me. The procedure went on for some period of time...until I agreed to sign.
BTW...the waterboarding causes panic...not pain. The most painful thing I experienced was when they beat my stomach open handed until it was not blue but black...and I with stood this procedure without signing. Being repeatedly bitch slapped with an open hand was not pleasant either and my faced swelled up as if I had been stung by a swarm of bees...but I also withstood that as well as the sleep depravation and being strung up for hours...where only the tips of my toes touched the floor.
I actually could have resisted the waterboarding for a longer period of time but I knew that I would eventually sign...so I did not hold out as long as I could have.
The whole experience at SERE is a bad experience...but the thing that I remember the most is not all of the torture techniques but the experience of eating raw turtle meat...during the survival phase of training.
This subject has been covered in a previous thread and there are a few others here that experienced SERE training. Every class is not identical...but similar.