James Foley and other Islamic State hostages were waterboarded during the early stages of their imprisonment in Syria, sources familiar with
Westerner captivity told The Washington Post.
Foley was the American journalist who was beheaded last week by the terror organization in what was presumed to be retaliation for recent U.S. airstrikes in Iraq. In a video of the grisly execution, another American journalist — Steven Sotloff — was also seen. Two other Americans are also currently in ISIS captivity, The Post noted.
"Waterboarding," which is widely considered to be a torture technique, seeks to create the sensation or simulation of drowning by strapping a person down, covering their face with a cloth, and pouring cold water over them, making it difficult to breathe.
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The Post and Reuters pointed out that the Islamic State kidnappers appeared to be using the same waterboarding techniques the CIA practiced on its suspects after the September 11, 2001, attacks, a source said.
But a second source scoffed at the notion that the CIA was the inspiration behind the Islamic State's waterboarding efforts.
"ISIL is a group that routinely crucifies and beheads people. It needs no inspiration for its brutality," a U.S. official told The Post, using one of the acronyms for the Islamic State. "To suggest that the U.S. is somehow responsible for ISIL tactics is ridiculous and feeds into their twisted propaganda."
President Barack Obama has denounced waterboarding as torture in the past.
The Islamic State, which also controls parts of Syria along with Iraq, is now threatening to kill Sotloff.
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