A little wikipedia experiment
JoeUser Forums
I wonder if I will get banned from wikipedia for this. In the water boarding article, waterboarding is declared torture (if looking to edit, there is a warning that a "wikipedia discussion" declared it to be so. Only evidence supporting such a claim is presented. If you go through the entire article, way near the bottom, is a short section that details the use of waterboarding on american troops to toughen them up... yap, its a training exercise for the military.
Well, lets do a little experiment. I copied the following line:
It serves as an "intro" to the section about US training. I pasted it into the "preview" section (aka, the top of the article that gives broad information about the topic; and already contains info about Khalid Sheik Mohammed:
In contrast to submerging the head face-forward in water, waterboarding precipitates an almost immediate gag reflex.[15] While the technique does not inevitably cause lasting physical damage, it can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, damage tolungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage or, if uninterrupted, death.[3] Adverse physical consequences can start manifesting months after the event; psychological effects can last for years.[7]
In 2007 it was reported that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was using waterboarding on extrajudicial prisoners and that the United States Department of Justice had authorized the procedure,[16][17] a revelation that sparked a worldwide political scandal. Al-Qaeda suspects upon whom the CIA is known to have used waterboarding are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.[18][19] To justify its use of waterboarding, the George W. Bush administration issued secret legal opinions that argued for a narrow definition of torture under U.S. law, including the Bybee memo, which it later withdrew.[20][21] According to Justice Department documents, the waterboarding of Khalid Sheik Mohammed provided the U.S. government with information about a potential 9/11-type attack on Los Angeles.[22]
In January 2009 President Barack Obama banned the use of waterboarding. In April 2009 the Department of Defense refused to say whether waterboarding is still used for training (e.g., SERE) purposes.[22][23]
The new text reads:
In contrast to submerging the head face-forward in water, waterboarding precipitates an almost immediate gag reflex.[13] While the technique does not inevitably cause lasting physical damage, it can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, damage tolungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage or, if uninterrupted, death.[3] Adverse physical consequences can start manifesting months after the event; psychological effects can last for years.[7]
All special operations units in all branches of the U.S. military and the CIA's Special Activities Division [14] employ the use of a form of waterboarding as part of survival school (Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape) training, to psychologically prepare soldiers for the possibility of being captured by enemy forces.[15]
In 2007 it was reported that the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was using waterboarding on extrajudicial prisoners and that the United States Department of Justice had authorized the procedure,[16][17] a revelation that sparked a worldwide political scandal. Al-Qaeda suspects upon whom the CIA is known to have used waterboarding are Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, Abu Zubaydah, and Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri.[18][19] To justify its use of waterboarding, the George W. Bush administration issued secret legal opinions that argued for a narrow definition of torture under U.S. law, including the Bybee memo, which it later withdrew.[20][21] According to Justice Department documents, the waterboarding of Khalid Sheik Mohammed provided the U.S. government with information about a potential 9/11-type attack on Los Angeles.[22]
In January 2009 President Barack Obama banned the use of waterboarding. In April 2009 the Department of Defense refused to say whether waterboarding is still used for training (e.g., SERE) purposes.[22][23]
So, will this edit stand? will it be reversed? should I expect to be banned from wikipedia? We shall soon see.
