Torture expert scolds MMA fighter who livestreamed waterboarding to back Haspel

A counterterrorism expert slammed a former UFC fighter who voluntarily had himself waterboarded in an effort to promote President Trump’s pick to lead the CIA.

“Wrong. That’s not how it’s done. You’re just holding your breath,” Malcolm Nance wrote to former UFC fighter and Green Beret Tim Kennedy on Twitter. 

{mosads}

“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,” Nance added.

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

Kennedy posted the video of others “waterboarding” him to support Trump CIA pick Gina Haspel, who was chosen to lead the agency after the president nominated former Director Mike Pompeo to be the new secretary of State.

“The reason we are doing this … is for us to have a conversation. Right now, an amazing hero has been appointed to be director of the CIA and because of that, some of the things she has done are being attacked,” said Kennedy.

Haspel has been scrutinized throughout her confirmation process over her role in the CIA’s detention and interrogation program. She faced a grilling largely focused on the issue in her Senate Intelligence Committee hearing last week.

Kennedy specifically wrote on Twitter last week that “waterboarding is not torture.”

“If I can change one person’s mind about what torture is and what I would do to protect American freedom, I will do this for years,” Kennedy said in the video.