Waterboarding an attraction at New York amusement park

[CptSternn]

http://www.reuters.com/article/domes...50002220080807

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A man with a black hood pours water on the face of a prisoner in an orange jumpsuit strapped to a table: no, it's not Guantanamo Bay naval base, but New York's Coney Island amusement park.

The scene using robotic dolls is an installation built by artist Steve Powers to criticize waterboarding, a simulated drowning technique the United States has admitted using on terrorism suspects, but that rights group say is torture.

"Waterboard Thrill Ride" beckons a sign along with cartoon character "SpongeBob SquarePants" who appears tied down and exclaiming: "It don't Gitmo better!"

The public can peek through window bars and feed a dollar into the slot to bring the robotic dolls into action, one more attraction in the beachfront amusement park in the New York neighborhood of Brooklyn.

"Anyone can see this is painful from 50 feet away," said Powers, who had previously been painting signs and storefronts in the area. "I wanted people to understand the psychological ramifications of this."

Marion Tracey, 57, from New Jersey, said she found the installation disturbing. It made her think of her father who had nightmares after returning from World War II. "In all wars, horrible things happen," she said. "I'd rather not see it."

Alex Soto, 23, said he thought it was a good thing for people to learn about waterboarding, but he added: "It is pretty twisted."

[CptSternn]

This is brilliant. They need more of these. I think the American media needs to show the American public what the rest of the world sees. Since that will never happen, at least people can see things like this to see what the American government has 'censored' for their 'benefit'.

If they had more exhibits like this, demonstrating stress positions and other 'information gathering techniques', then maybe people would actually be angry about what the US government is currently doing to innocent people.

[Godslayer Jillian]

I think I might do this at my college.

[KontanKarite]

I think it might be a double edged sword, but posting fliers around my town about waterboarding may be a good idea.

[kikrox]

this is funny, i remember as a little kid going waterboarding at some amusement park, i tihnk it was hershey, didnt involve any pain or danger tho, thank god .

[Beneath the Shadows]

Originally Posted by CptSternn

I think the American media needs to show the American public what the rest of the world sees.

We are well aware of our own flaws. What, you think it's just a coincidence that most of the groups that protest against what the U.S. government has been doing just so happen to be based in the United States?

I think it's the other way around. The rest of the world needs to stop focusing on what we Americans affectionately refer to as "Dumbfuckistan," and start taking a look at what the rest of us are doing. Go ahead and protest all you like, but don't lump us all into a single group.