Eleventh of 25 excerpts from The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals by Jane Mayer:Sometime in the summer of 2002, in a prison whose location the United States has never disclosed, in the hands of U.S. government employees whose identities remain secret, [Abu] Zubayda become the first person ever to be waterboarded at the command of the President of the United States. . . .
In contrast to the CIA version, Zubayda claimed that he was not merely waterboarded once. He told the ICRC, according to those familiar with the report, that the CIA waterboarded him at least ten times in a single week, often twice a day. On one day, he claimed, he was waterboarded three times.
His descriptions were consistent with those of the other two high-value detainees who were waterboarded, both of whom claimed to have been put through the procedure multiple times. They all said the waterboarding was done in a very precise way. They were strapped down to a hard surface, placed in leather cuffs, and their feet were elevated. Cloths were put on their faces and water was poured on it. They all felt as if they were drowning. They described being tipped down, then brought back up again, and then tipped down again.
Copyright 2008 by Jane Mayer. All Rights Reserved
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