Talk of torture in the US has only recently come to the forefront. Each day seems to bring new horrifying revelations about the depraved morality of our military and those who dispense their orders. Just a few days ago, CIA Director Michael Hayden admitted that three Guantanamo prisoners had been waterboarded within the last six years. Although the practice has since been suspended, Hayden said he would “leave open the option of reinstating” the interrogation tactic.

It’s important that all Americans understand that such an action could and should be considered illegal. Signatories of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights–such as the United States–are bound to Article 5, which states, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” There should be no doubt that waterboarding falls under the category of torture–despite the trepidation of US officials to say as much–because this country has historically opposed the practice. In once case, back in 1947, the US prosecuted a Japanese military officer for waterboarding an American during the war. He was ultimately sentenced to 15 years hard labor.

Is this something we can just change our minds about? Do these supposedly new and dangerous times in which we live justify the torture of people who haven’t even been tried or convicted of anything? As the famous psychologist Carl Jung once said, “The healthy man does not torture others - generally it is the tortured who turn into torturers.”