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"It sounded like when we are really in pain, choking in water. The sound was screaming, from the throat. I suppose they could not bear the torture. Whenever we heard the noises we were really shocked and scared. We thought one day they will do the same thing to us."
Is it torture?
"Yes, it is severe torture. We could try it and see how we would react if we are choking under water for just two minutes. It is very serious."
— Van Nath, Survivor recalls horrors of Cambodia genocide, CNN April 7, 2008

"Unless you have been strapped down to the board, have endured the agonizing feeling of the water overpowering your gag reflex, and then feel your throat open and allow pint after pint of water to involuntarily fill your lungs, you will not know the meaning of the word."
— Malcom Nance, Waterboarding is Torture… Period, Small Wars Journal, October 31, 2007

"The rag was soaked rapidly. Water flowed everywhere: in my mouth, in my nose, all over my face. But for a while I could still breathe in some small gulps of air. I tried, by contracting my throat, to take in as little water as possible and to resist suffocation by keeping air in my lungs for as long as I could. But I couldn't hold on for more than a few moments. I had the impression of drowning, and a terrible agony, that of death itself, took possession of me. In spite of myself, all the muscles of my body struggled uselessly to save me from suffocation."
— Henri Alleg, quoted in Waterboarding is torture - I did it myself, says US advisor, by Leonard Doyle in The Independent, November 1, 2007.

"They would lash me to a stretcher then prop me up against a table with my head down. They would then pour about two gallons of water from a pitcher into my nose and mouth until I lost consciousness."
"They laid me out on a stretcher and strapped me on. The stretcher was then stood on end with my head almost touching the floor and my feet in the air. . . . They then began pouring water over my face and at times it was almost impossible for me to breathe without sucking in water."
— testimony of two Americans imprisoned by Japanese soldiers.

"Why are we talking about this in the White House? History will not judge this kindly."
— Attorney General Ashcroft, Top Bush Advisors Approved 'Enhanced Interrogation', ABC News April 9, 2008