1947-US Sentenced-Japanese Officer To 15 Years Of Hard Labor For Using WaterBoarding Techniques

[kpete]

Twenty-one years earlier, in 1947, the United States charged a Japanese officer, Yukio Asano, with war crimes for carrying out another form of waterboarding on a U.S. civilian. The subject was strapped on a stretcher that was tilted so that his feet were in the air and head near the floor, and small amounts of water were poured over his face, leaving him gasping for air until he agreed to talk.

"Asano was sentenced to 15 years of hard labor," Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.) told his colleagues last Thursday during the debate on military commissions legislation. "We punished people with 15 years of hard labor when waterboarding was used against Americans in World War II," he said.

A CIA interrogation training manual declassified 12 years ago, "KUBARK Counterintelligence Interrogation -- July 1963," outlined a procedure similar to waterboarding. Subjects were suspended in tanks of water wearing blackout masks that allowed for breathing. Within hours, the subjects felt tension and so-called environmental anxiety. "Providing relief for growing discomfort, the questioner assumes a benevolent role," the manual states.

The KUBARK manual was the product of more than a decade of research and testing, refining lessons learned from the Korean War, where U.S. airmen were subjected to a new type of "touchless torture" until they confessed to a bogus plan to use biological weapons against the North Koreans.

more at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/04/AR2006100402005.html

[Trajan]

1. This is certainly instructive ....

Bookmarked this thread for later reference .... thanks ....

[northzax]

2. Oh sure, but remember

Back then we were only recovering from defeating the word's two great industrial nations in direct battle. Now we are fighting guys in caves. GUYS IN CAVES! don's you fracking understand that guys in caves are a million times More dangerous than nazi germany and imperial japan combined? we don't have the luxury of being nice and moral anymore, these guys LIVE IN CAVES! Caves!

[Der Blaue Engel]

5. Why do you hate cavemen?

You're that gecko, aren't you??

:rofl:

[0rganism]

10. wait, didn't some of the Japanese use Pacific island caves back in WWII?

IIRC, their Iwo Jima and Saipan fortifications relied heavily on caves...

We can't even fall back on that as an excuse, it seems. :shrug:

[BOSSHOG]

3. Thanks Kpete

Your contributions are, as usual, invaluable.

[Hawkowl]

4. 21 st Century Nazis

If the US attacks Iran, the rest of the world will come to regard Americans as the new Nazis.

[Der Blaue Engel]

6. Oooooh, that was post 666!

Take a screenshot. :D

(And, sadly, I think the rest of the world is pretty much already doing that.)

[Der Blaue Engel]

7. Off to the Greatest with you

We need to keep calling them on this shit. Thank you, Kennedy, for rarely disappointing me. :patriot: (And you, too, kpete!)

edited to give credit where credit is definitely due :hi:

[Traveling_Home]

8. This is the record of charges against the Yukio Asana

http://socrates.berkeley.edu/~warcrime/Japan/Yokohama/Reviews/Yokohama_Review_Asano.htm

Defendant: Asano, Yukio

Docket Date: 53/ May 1 - 28, 1947, Yokohama, Japan

Charge: Violation of the Laws and Customs of War: 1. Did willfully and unlawfully mistreat and torture PWs. 2. Did unlawfully take and convert to his own use Red Cross packages and supplies intended for PWs.

Specifications:beating using hands, fists, club; kicking; water torture; burning using cigarettes; strapping on a stretcher head downward

[Solly Mack]

9. K/R

Yep..the US sure did and it bears repeating over and over again until people actually hear it

water-boarding IS torture and it IS a war crime

[Spazito]

11. Thanks for posting this....

Valuable reference.

Recommending.

[williesgirl]

12. kpete - suggest you send to Keith - betting he'll use it. rec'd

[malaise]

13. Thanks Ted Kennedy

this will be great precedent for the judges at The Hague.

[robertpaulsen]

14. Big K & R kpete! Way to highlight hypocrisy, Ted!

:kick:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

15. This whole "is it or isn't it"...

bullshit game too many are playing with torture disgusts me.

It's real simple folks: If an enemy did "X" to an American soldier, would you be screaming bloody murder about "X" being "torture"??

Well, guess what, brainiacs, it's STILL "torture" if the soldier/insurgent/"terrorist" is Iraqi or Afghani or Iranian or from the planet Spazotron. :eyes:

[crickets]

16. Thank you for posting this

I couldn't believe two people on this board recently were arguing with me in favor in the US continuing to use torture.

War crime.

Illegal.

Immoral.

Indefensible.

It's not that hard to understand.

[2008]

17. k&r (nt)

[progressoid]

18. Bah, this is sooooo pre-9/11 thinking.

k&r