ISIS Waterboarded Hostages

American James Foley was among them, reports Washington Post
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 28, 2014 3:31 PM CDT
ISIS Waterboarded Hostages
A 2011 photo of the late James Foley.   (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

James Foley and at least three other hostages held by the Islamic State were waterboarded multiple times during captivity, reports the Washington Post. The newspaper quotes anonymous sources for the scoop, and says the ISIS militants "appeared to model" the infamous technique—labeled as torture by President Obama—on the CIA's use of it. "They knew exactly how it was done," says one of the sources. The report does not name the other hostages, but it says Foley in particular was singled out for waterboarding and other physical abuse, especially after his captors learned his brother was in the US Air Force.

Neither the FBI nor the CIA would comment on the report, but an anonymous US official bristled at the suggestion that the Islamic State, also known as ISIL, stole the waterboarding idea from the US. “ISIL is a group that routinely crucifies and beheads people,” says the official. “To suggest that there is any correlation between ISIL’s brutality and past US actions is ridiculous and feeds into their twisted propaganda.” (Yesterday, the mother of US hostage Steven Sotloff pleaded for his release.)

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