Whistleblower , Waterboarding - Christopher Hitchens , Arguably Waterboarding is a type of torture designed to inflict the sensation of drowning on the victim. This is typically accomplished by placing a cloth over the persons face and pouring water over that cloth. This form of torture had been used by U.S. soldiers during the War on Terror in the early 2000's. This is around the time that Christopher Hitchens' views on the matter became more pronounced. Though Hitchens didn't delve much into torture before the invasion of Iraq, his views began changing as the War on Terror commenced.