by Michael Sanibel

Created on: April 21, 2009

Do 'enhanced interrogation techniques' permitted by the Bush Justice Department constitute torture? My answer is no.

Over the years I have read extensive commentary on both sides of this issue. It's an emotional topic that is difficult to discuss openly because most people have already made their minds up, one way or the other. My perspective on what constitutes torture is largely shaped by my life experiences, which are obviously different than yours. It started in 1969 when I entered the United States Air Force Academy as a freshman cadet. The Vietnam War was reaching the peak of its intensity, and the military in this country was often scorned by the American public for fighting an unpopular war that had never officially been declared.

During the summers at the academy, there was extensive military training of various types. In 1970, we were given training in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape, commonly known as SERE. Its purpose was to prepare you in the event you were captured and became a prisoner of war. All fighter pilots were cycled through this training, and we were getting it before we even learned how to fly. The bedrock of SERE training was a mock POW camp where we were subjected to numerous techniques designed to break our will and ability to resist. The camp was run by officers and upperclassmen that dressed and acted the part of the enemy we might encounter in Vietnam. The reason we were put through this training was to prepare us for what was expected to happen if we were ever captured. In reality, our prisoners have experienced far worse treatment than any training ever devised.

For a week during SERE, I had a canvas bag over my head and was placed in a tent with a dirt floor. There was a lantern burning at all times, and I could never tell if it was day or night. We were deprived of food and sleep, and only had a few sips of water per day out of a dirty tin can. Once we had gone without sleep for about twenty-four hours, they let us lie down on the dirt and close our eyes. Ten minutes later they would wake us all up by screaming at us, and tell us to run in place and do deep-knee bends. Then it was back to the dirt to fall asleep again. Ten minutes later we were up and running in place. This pattern was repeated over and over again many times. After awhile, I couldn't tell when I was awake from when I was sleeping since I was constantly hallucinating. It was all a blur because my mind had lost all sense of reality.

At one point I did something

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