Omitting medical opinions to the contrary, KOA's "Gunny" Bob again insisted waterboarding "doesn't harm" people

Summary: Host "Gunny" Bob Newman of Newsradio 850 KOA asserted that waterboarding "doesn't harm" people and further claimed, "It is a trick." In fact, as Colorado Media Matters pointed out when Newman made a similar claim on a previous broadcast, congressional testimony from Dr. Allen S. Keller stated suggestions that such "abusive methods" are harmless contradict "well established medical knowledge and clinical experience."

Speaking with a caller on his June 18 broadcast, Newsradio 850 KOA host "Gunny" Bob Newman declared that waterboarding "doesn't harm" people "at all." Newman's contention about the interrogation technique echoed comments he made on his June 4 broadcast, when he claimed that waterboarding "is not torture at all," but -- as on his June 18 program -- did not mention contradictory medical opinions.

As Media Matters for America has noted, Dr. Allen S. Keller, director of the Bellevue Hospital Center/New York University Program for Survivors of Torture, submitted written testimony to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence stating, "To think that abusive methods, including the enhanced interrogation techniques [in which Keller included waterboarding], are harmless psychological ploys is contradictory to well established medical knowledge and clinical experience." Keller added, "These methods are intended to break the prisoners down, to terrify them and cause harm to their psyche, and in so doing result in lasting harmful health consequences."

Of waterboarding specifically, Keller wrote, "Long term effects include panic attacks, depression and PTSD [post traumatic stress disorder]," and said it poses a "real risk of death." Keller further explained in his testimony that there are immediate physical risks associated with waterboarding, including "actually drowning or suffering a heart attack or damage to the lungs."

Continuing his discussion with the caller, Newman -- a former military interrogator who once described waterboarding on MSNBC's The Most -- also stated, "I've done this [waterboarding] to enough people, and had it done to me enough times. It is a trick."

From the June 18 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show:

NEWMAN: Hello, [caller], you're on KOA with the "Gunny."

CALLER: Oh, good. Yes, I just was gonna say, as far as, she [Michelle Obama] doesn't like America, I mean -- are you still there?

NEWMAN: Sure am.

CALLER: I mean, she doesn't know when the last time she even respected America. I mean, and as far as washboarding -- I'm switching topics, because that's --

NEWMAN: You mean waterboarding?

CALLER: Waterboarding.

NEWMAN: Right.

CALLER: That should be done because you're not killin' the guy, you're just makin' sure he's tellin' the truth.

NEWMAN: Well, no. Waterboarding does not make sure somebody tells the truth. Waterboarding make sure that the person being waterboarded becomes temporarily compliant, in some fashion. Remember, there is no interrogation technique or approach that is always successful in getting accurate information. But physical compliance is another thing.

CALLER: It's not gonna kill you.

NEWMAN: No. It doesn't harm 'em at all.

CALLER: Right.

NEWMAN: And I've done this to enough people, and had it done to me enough times. It is a trick.

CALLER: There you go.

NEWMAN: It's a trick.

CALLER: Yeah, exactly.

—J.M.

John McMahon is an intern at Colorado Media Matters.