Blast from the past: Christopher Hitchens subjects himself to waterboarding in order to prove it is not torture. Instead proves the opposite.

There is a never ending stream of criticism that is leveled at Hitch, some of it even from me back in the days when he was a cheerleader for the Iraq war and I was angrily speaking out against it with every post. However what can NEVER be said about Hitchens is that he is a coward.

Even before he accepted his terminal cancer diagnosis and continued debating against religious faith in spite of his own impending demise, Hitchens decided to call the bluff of his detractors by proving that he could withstand waterboarding just as well as Khalid Sheikh Mohammed who, it was reported, had been subjected to the torture 183 times.

Instead Hitch learned two things.

One, that he would gladly have given up state secrets in a heartbeat in order to avoid the process again.

And two, that despite his earlier protestations waterboarding was indeed torture.

Afterward he immediately wrote a compelling article admitting his ignorance, and telling the world that the process did not simulate the feeling of drowning, but in fact those subjected to it were actually being drowned.

You may remember that Hitchens was not alone in expressing his willingness to prove his point by allowing himself to be waterboarded.

Sean Hannity did the same thing, for charity even.

The exception of course is that Hannity is a cowardly POS and has never sacked up and followed through. (Not only that, but if you remind him of his broken vow he throws a tantrum and quickly changes the subject.)

I did not always agree with Christopher Hitchens, but I always respected his intellect and his courage. Something, by the way, that is often in short supply these days.