Waterboarding

Waterboarding is an interrogation technique, considered by many to be a form of torture, used to obtain information, coerce confessions, punish or intimidate.CNN.com: Poll results: Waterboarding is torture (November 6, 2007) On April 16, 2009, Attorney General Eric Holder announced that CIA agents who used harsh interrogation tactics, which include waterboarding, on detainees, would not be prosecuted. The tactics in question were authorized by George W. Bush.USATODAY.com: Obama won't prosecute CIA for waterboarding (April 16, 2009)

CIA memos released in April 2009 (but issued in 2005) revealed that waterboarding was used much more frequently by the CIA than initially acknowledged.CBS News: Waterboarding More Frequent, Memos Suggest (April 20, 2009)

Waterboarding is a controversial interrogation method where the individual is usually immobilized, then water is poured over his or her face to simulate drowning. Waterboarding elicits the gag reflex and can make the subject believe his or her death is imminent while not causing physical evidence of torture.

A debate began in late 2007 over whether waterboarding should be officially considered torture, after it had been revealed that the CIA had used the practice as recently as 2005. The practice was banned by the U.S. Military in 2006, however the military rules do not cover the CIA.

In February 2008, the U.S. Congress passed a bill to ban the practice, however President Bush vetoed the bill in March 2008.

A poll released November 6, 2007, asked Americans whether they think waterboarding is a form of torture. 69 percent, said yes; 29 percent said no. CNN: CNN

Another poll asked whether the U.S. Government should be allowed to use the procedure to get information from suspected terrorists. 58 percent said no; 40 percent said yes. CNN: CNN