‘You’re holding your breath’: Torture expert ridicules MMA fighter proving waterboarding isn’t abuse by using a garden hose

UFC Fighter Tim Kennedy posted a video of himself being what he said was waterboarding, but he didn’t exactly get it right and the internet is lighting him up for being a wimp.
“We did this yesterday for almost 45 minutes,” he wrote on Twitter with a video. “The average pour was anywhere from 10 to 60 sec. You can try to hold your breath but the water pools at the back of your sinuses running down your eyes and nose. Plain and simple. It’s not torture.”
We did this yesterday for almost 45 minutes. The average pour was anywhere from 10 to 60 sec. You can try to hold your breath but the water pools at the back of your sinuses running down your eyes and nose. Plain and simple. It’s not torture. #CIA #GinaHaspel #waterboarding pic.twitter.com/XtFLYoUgsw
— Tim Kennedy (@TimKennedyMMA) May 12, 2018
The problem for Kennedy is what happens after 60 seconds is over? What does Kennedy do when the water never stops coming? What would Kennedy do if he was tied down, tipped at an angle and the towel was forced over as did conservative radio talk show host Erich “Mancow” Muller, when he tried it in 2009.
“Look, all that’s been done to this country, and I heard about water being dropped on someone’s face, and I never considered it torture,” Mueller told NPR in an interview. “Even when I was laying there, I thought this is going to be no big deal. I go swimming. It’s going to be like being in the tub. I do now want to say this: absolutely torture. Absolutely. I mean, that’s drowning.”
Former United States Navy senior chief petty officer specializing in naval cryptology Malcolm Nance called folly on Kennedy. As someone who has keen knowledge of waterboarding, the former SERE instructor called out Kennedy for not only doing it incorrectly but not capturing the experience of interrogation.
“Wrong,” he tweeted. “That’s not how it’s done. You’re just holding your breath. As a former SERE instructor & #Waterboarding qual’d resistance team member I can tell you it’s about aggression, intent, tiedown, pour technique, rate of flow & other factors. It’s a Nazis/Commie torture. Deal w/it.”
Wrong. That’s not how it’s done. You’re just holding your breath. As a former SERE instructor & #Waterboarding qual’d resistance team member I can tell you it’s about aggression, intent, tiedown, pour technique, rate of flow & other factors. It’s a Nazis/Commie torture. Deal w/it https://t.co/YRYY5HIniD
— Malcolm Nance (@MalcolmNance) May 12, 2018
The internet was quick to follow with their own accusations, and attacks on Kennedy for doing it wrong and for being too scared to try it the way it’s actually performed by intelligence officers.
I missed the part in the video where they did it until he passed out. Missed the part where they kept him awake for 36 hours while his hands were strapped to the ceiling. Also missed the part where they pointed the gun at his head, did y’all threaten him with a power drill too?
— David Dennison (Black version) (@Jewmetrious256) May 13, 2018
Wow, you're such a pussy. Next time try it like it's actually conducted. There are videos online that show the reality. Until then, you're nothing more than a candyass too afraid to try the real thing.
Wimp.
— (((Charles Young))) (@CharlieYoungEsq) May 13, 2018
Also the part where he thought he was going to die. This isn't the same at all.
— David Conrad (@daiconrad) May 13, 2018
Missed the part where a man on each side was thightly holding the towel over his already covered face, which would make any air flow impossible.
This is a mockery, & doing a huge disservice.
Hope kids don't start playing this game.— SuzyQ 🇺🇸✌ (@suzyqjinx) May 13, 2018
Cool. Now keep him awake for 72 hours, force a hydration tube up his ass, and bury him alive. Don’t forget to drop some insects in there. Try reading the rest of the report.
— dell cameron (@dellcam) May 12, 2018
Your version of waterboarding is a sexual fetish… that is why you didn’t feel much
— ALT- Immigration 🛂 (@ALT_uscis) May 13, 2018
The sexual fetish version is more intense than this.
— CantabKitty (@CantabKitty) May 13, 2018
Sensory deprivation isn't torture when you climb into a tank and you know an attendant is going to come by to let you out in an hour.
Solitary confinement isn't torture when you go to your room to be alone.
Context maters. You know you're safe.
— Alexandra Erin (@alexandraerin) May 12, 2018
Wow, 45 minutes with total assurance that you can go home when you’re done – yeah really nailed the experience there
— John Mangrum (@jwmangrum) May 12, 2018
The water is being held 3-4 feet off his face and can't reallytell where it's landing. Let me do it and he'd change his mind in about 30 sec.
— James McC (@jamesmax22) May 12, 2018
Below is a video of how the late Christopher Hitchen withstood an actual demonstration of torture. Raw Story reached out to Kennedy to ask if he would be willing to do it in the way Hitchen or Mueller did. He eventually responded saying he would “absolutely” do it. Raw Story then reached out to Nance to ask how one would facilitate it.