U.S. soldier Joshua Tabor waterboards his daughter, 4, because she couldn't recite alphabet: police

A crazed G.I. was arrested for waterboarding his 4-year-old daughter because she wouldn't say her ABCs.

Cops said Army Sgt. Joshua Tabor, 27, who served 15 months in Iraq, admitted to punishing his daughter by holding her down on the kitchen counter in suburban Washington State and repeatedly pushing her head backward into a full sink.

"He explained she's deathly afraid of water," said Todd Stancil, police chief in Yelm, Wash.

"He would lay her down on her back and push her head into the water right up to her eyeline. He was open about it. He did it all the time. To him, that was an acceptable form of punishment - because she wasn't able to say the alphabet."

Stancil said neighbors told cops that he also ran water over the flailing girl's face, taking her to the edge of drowning, but Tabor denied that.

"It was hot! The water was hot!" the girl said, according to the police report.

Tabor, who was arrested Jan. 31, will be arraigned Feb. 16.

"We originally booked him on third-degree assault, but if he did put the water over her face, that would constitute a more tortuous type of crime," Stancil said. "We are looking into those allegations."

Waterboarding, in which water is poured into an immobilized target's nose and mouth, was used by the CIA on prisoners in Iraq until President Obama banned it in January 2009.

Tabor is out on $10,000 bail and restricted to his base, Ft. Lewis, in Tacoma, Wash.

He was arrested after his girlfriend called the cops at 2 a.m. to say he was drunkenly stalking around the neighborhood brandishing his Kevlar helmet and threatening to break windows.

The girlfriend then told cops Tabor beat his daughter. Cops found the little girl hiding in the bathroom.

"She had just multiple bruises all over her body, from the ears to the legs," Stancil said. "She said, 'Daddy did this.'"

The child had only been in her father's court-ordered custody for two months.

Her father had barred her from contacting her mother's parents, who had raised her. When police put the worried grandma on the phone, the little girl cried from happiness, the police report says.

Read more: U.S. soldier Joshua Tabor waterboards his daughter, 4, because she couldn't recite alphabet: police

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

I have never doubted that it was torture.....however!
In times of war, some things are permissible when they normally wouldn't be. Furthermore, some things that children should never, ever be subjected to doesn't mean that adults can't be subjected to....

This "father" is obviously a sick, sadistic, bastard.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

What Marilynk said exactly! Plus thanks for the explaning what waterboarding is, I hate to admit that even after all the talk about it I didn't really know how it was done

Torture –noun
1. the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty.

Obviously, torture has many definitions. Anyone who can't see that is as thick as the NOW lady who was on the tube today yelling about how the Tebow ad shocked her because it promoted violence against women.

That NOW lady is crazy!!!!
Marilynk-well put!
Lock up that guy and throw away the key. Poor kid might be traumatized for life.

There's a big difference between our intelligence getting information from terrorists and this sick man's treatment of his daughter. To compare the two situations is just ridiculous.

We also put people in jail when they break the law and impose other sanctions on them. That's no reason to do it to a four year old child.

Obviously this man has mental problems.

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The political system is broke and it's a joke.

I haven't seen the NOW lady...so I won't comment on that.

See, to me it would be cruel to force me, as an adult, to sit through several episodes of Barney, or Dora the Explorer, or Teletubbies--but a 4 y/o probably wouldn't mind. I'm not making light of what this animal did to his own child, just trying to illustrate that abuse is different than torture. What he did was abusive.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Here's the quote, Marilyn:

I think you hit the nail on the head. And while I certainly don't like to think about torture much, I think it has its place... but abuse never does.

To even compare what this monster did to his child to what is done to war criminals is disgusting.

Marilyn, the NOW was critical of the Tebow SB ad saying that is promoted violence against women. It was a ridiculous comment and really just weakens their effectiveness imo. That's fine by me, but why would they do that?

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Melissa

I think they did it because that's the only thing they could find to pick on concerning the commercial. They obviously can't say she should have had an abortion so they've created this whole domestic violence issue to divert attention from the pro-life message. JMHO

I'm not at all excusing what this man did to his daughter but have they thought about what he just went through in Iraq? Do they help these men when they come back? Did he beat his daughter BEFORE he was over there? The article said he only had custody for 2 months if I read it correctly? Did he act like this before Iraq? Like I said, I'm not excusing ANYTHING he did NOW but could it be that he's mentally unstable from his tour in Iraq? Shouldn't we be helping our soldiers? I have a friend who's brother was in Iraq. He is totally screwed up. He doesn't come out of his house and lost his wife due to his behavior. It's so sad! I don't know much about this particular story but just a thought.

I know what you're saying kbain. But that is really a completely separate issue. She was a small innocent child. Regardless of what he's endured, it is no excuse, period. In this case, imo, not even worth mentioning. Maybe he needs help, sure, but my goodness....

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Melissa

KBain, the second you put the word BUT in your sentence, you negate everything you just said... You ARE excusing what he did by saying that one simple little phrase. He harmed an innocent little 4 year old just because she didn't want to say her ABC's... It said she was also covered with bruises... This might be a totally legit topic to bring up, but it's coming across as an excuse here. This will probably be a great one for the defense attorney... Is anyone else blown away by how low his bail was?

Torture doesn't work. It never has. It's only useful when used to produce false information. Information that can be used as a reason to invade another country.

This, however, is a case where waterboarding was used as a punishment. Some parents do go overboard when they punish their children. Sometimes the kids die.

This is why I barely post anything here, people tell you what you REALLY mean. Sorry, maybe I did phrase it wrong. There are no excuses for what he did and it was a 4 year old innocent child. I just think they should do better helping our soldiers when they get home. We have no idea what they see or how it changes them. Doesn't change what happened though. Hopefully the little girl is safe now and he gets the punishment he deserves! And yes his bail was way too low!

It NEVER has? I think that is quite an assumption.

Speaking only for myself, I am a wus when in pain. Depending on the secret they were trying to get out of me, it just might work.

Dear God. Does anyone realize we are talking about a 4 YEAR OLD BABY??????? I wish I could kick his A$$$ and anyone that tries to defend him!!!

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*** Find A Need , Fill A Need ***

It never has produced any valuable information. All those people who confessed to being witches during the Spanish Inquisition weren't actually witches. Maybe you weren't aware of those facts.

We got absolutely no valid information from torture. But, Bushco got what they wanted to start a war.

Not to be crass, but I think that statement is a boatload of crap.

You can't use an absolute to support either position.

It doesn't ALWAYS produce results.

It doesn't "NEVER" produce results.

Sometimes it produces results.

If we're talking about hardened criminals who just might spill a single bean that could save a single innocent from a 9-11 style attack, I say bring out the board and turn on the faucet.

ETA: http://www.cnsnews.com/public/conten...x?RsrcID=46974

Well, I haven't study the Spanish Inquistion and witches--however, the Salem witch trials didn't involve a lot of torture. There were trials, and if the person was found guilty they were given a sentence like burning at the stake--the belief was if they were witches they would save themselves, if they weren't witches--well then they were innocent. Kind of messed up thinking.

But, we aren't talking about witches--we are talking about war combatants. The VietCong did obtain information from some of the US soldiers through torture from my understanding. Torture can be a tool used in times of war. Kind of like promising a serial killer that he/she won't face the death penalty if they just confess to all their kills and where the bodies are buried. Some times, not all the time, the ends do justify the means. Sorry to burst your bubble.

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Mental that one, I'm telling you. ---Ron Weasley, "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"

Some of the people that we tortured were picked up on the battlefield; most were turned in for the bounty. We murdered people in Afghanistan, Iran and Guantanemo. The CIA (who did most of the torture) state that they received no actionable intelligence. No lives were saved.

Good little Republicans need to maintain the lie that waterboarding isn't torture; just a little water in the face. Torture is a criminal act for any American citizen.

The Spanish inquisition used waterboarding extensively to produce confessions of witchcraft. What it proves is that you cannot trust the information, any of it, produced by torture. The Salem witches never confessed. They were subjected to trials of endurance. For instance, if the accused did not burn at the stake, they were a witch. It they were thrown bound and weighted down into the river and floated, they were a witch.

We all know that Bush made up a whole new category of enemy.The fact remains that we invaded Iraq based on the lies produced from torture.

Kvmg as always I love what you write on a personal note concerning the topic my heart aches for this little girl I cannot even imagine what that poor innocent soul went through with her dad. Sick sick sick. Peace for that baby girl. Catherine

I was starting to type a reply and then read your post, Marilyn. You expressed my thoughts better than I could.

kbain, I didn't mean to presume to tell you what YOU really meant. Sorry, I should have said, how it comes across. Anytime anyone uses the word but within a sentence, they can almost say to disregard what they just said before the "but". That's how it comes across when we are reading your words on this board. Sorry.