Torture's Scars Run Deep

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http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/editorials/hc-miller0324.artmar24,0,4578614.story

On Feb. 14, the U.S. Senate passed the Senate Intelligence Bill. This bill restricts interrogation techniques to those outlined in the Army Field Manual and prohibits the use of torture, including waterboarding. On March 8, President Bush, who has repeatedly said "the United States does no torture," vetoed this bill, saying it "would take away one of the most valuable tools in the war on terror."

Connecticut Sen. Joseph Lieberman voted against the bill, echoing the president in saying waterboarding is a useful tool. Sen. Lieberman reportedly offered this explanation: "It is not like putting burning coals on people's bodies. The person is in no real danger. The impact is psychological."

The intent of waterboarding is to terrify the victim and make him believe he is about to die, for whatever ultimate purpose the torturer has in mind. The victim experiences physical and psychological trauma: his heart beats rapidly, he cannot get enough air to breathe and he is terrorized. His survival is clearly in the hands of his torturer.

As medical director for the past 25 years of one of the oldest torture treatment programs in the United States, I have evaluated and treated hundreds of victims of torture, primarily survivors of the Pol Pot "killing fields" in Cambodia.

Cambodians who lived through the four years of the Pol Pot regime suffered multiple tortures and deprivations. Some Cambodian survivors experienced a psychological suffocation and mock execution torture similar to waterboarding, in which a plastic bag was tied over their heads until they blacked out. I know from seeing these patients that such experiences, which leave no visible external scar, can lead to serious psychiatric disorders such as post-traumatic stress disorder and major depression, which can persist even 30 years after the torture occurred.

Consistent with the extensive health problems of concentration camp survivors and former prisoners of war and with the literature on Cambodian survivors, I have seen many torture survivors with the physical disorders of cardiovascular disease, diabetes and stroke, in addition to the psychiatric disorders of post-traumatic stress and depression.