It'd be torture if they were doing it to you

The CIA keeps trying to insist that 'waterboarding' (where they only drown you a little bit) is not torture.
Now, I'm sure that, if I were in their shoes, I'd be doing the same thing, because I'm sure it's a good interrogation technique.
It's a good technique because it works.
It works because it's torture.

If you don't think so, try this at home:
Lie down on your kitchen floor (things are gonna get wet with all this), and have someone run a hose from the faucet on the sink down to you.
Have them keep filling your mouth with water, at reasonably high pressure, no matter what you do. They can hold your mouth open, forcibly, if necessary.
Have them ask you embarrassing questions while they're doing it.
Try not to drown.
Now, ask yourself, does it feel like torture?
Trust me, coddling prisoners of war in this kind of war is not a requirement that I'd put into place, but let's not kid ourselves that this kind of thing is merely a 'normal' interrogration technique. If a cop was doing this in the back room of the courthouse in your town, would you think it was okay? Would the Supreme Court?
Well, I'd probably think it was okay for that guy who kidnapped and sexually abused some fourth-grader and wouldn't say where he'd put the kid...