Simulated Torture

Anonymous Liberal, in a larger post rejecting arguments that are being used by Bush administration supporters to paper over the pernicious nature of waterboarding, writes:

And finally, as a general conceptual matter, torture is not something that can be "simulated." It's not a flight on an airplane. There's no such thing as simulated pain and suffering. That this even needs to be explained to anyone old enough to read and write is absolutely astounding.

This is an incredibly important point. Those who have contended that waterboarding is not torture do so in part on the grounds that it is "simulated torture" or "simulated drowning." Anonymous Liberal's post clearly rebuts these sophistical claims. Once these claims are rebutted and we recognize unequivocally that there is no such thing as "simulated torture", anything that its defenders would have placed into that category must again "shock the conscience."

As you listen to the Bush administration's spokespeople or Republicans touting Michael Mukasey's nomination or conservative pundits like John Podhoretz blur the meaning of torture, remember that waterboarding is torture and as A.L. writes, you can't simulate pain and suffering.