"There's just no doubt in my mind — under any set of rules — waterboarding is torture."

--Tom Ridge, first secretary of the Homeland Security Department

Of course it's torture. That's the whole point of waterboarding as opposed to, say, speaking to them in a disapproving manner. Torture is an ineffective way to get at the truth but it is an effective way to get prisoners to talk. In fact, they will say whatever their questioners want them to, which is part of the problem.