Letter: Put waterboarding ‘torture’ in perspective

Sunday, Dec. 23, 2007 | 6:55 a.m.

Ex-CIA agent John Kiriakou recently described how al-Qaida associate Abu Zubaydah was broken in just 30 seconds using the waterboarding technique. I hardly think 30 seconds can be considered torture when you think of the 9/11 attack at the hands of al-Qaida. Thirty seconds and it's all over for these terrorists and we get to save countless lives.

Just this week U.S. soldiers discovered a torture chamber in Iraq with swords still covered in blood, a steel bed still hooked up to a battery for electric shocks, and blood-splattered walls. Outside were mass graves with 26 bodies, all tortured at the hands of al-Qaida.

I myself will take the 30 seconds of waterboarding over the al-Qaida style of torture.

Sam Pizzo, Henderson

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