US soldier 'waterboards' daughter

A US soldier has been charged with assault after allegedly waterboarding his four-year-old daughter, police in the state of Washington have said.

Sgt Joshua Tabor dunked the girl's head in a sink full of water for not reciting the alphabet, police in the town of Yelm said.

Waterboarding is an interrogation technique that simulates drowning and has been banned as torture by the US.

Sgt Tabor is a helicopter repairer who served in Iraq from 2007-08.

Yelm police chief Todd Stancil said Sgt Tabor was arrested on 31 January.

Officers were called after Sgt Tabor was seen walking around his neighborhood holding a Kevlar helmet and threatening to break windows, the police chief added.

The girl was then found hiding in a locked bathroom in the soldier's home, Mr Stancil said on Monday.

Sgt Tabor posted bail of $10,000 (£6,400) on Monday and has been confined to barracks at his base in Washington state.


This is not nice at all... in fact it's horrible, but BBC might be streching just a tad with the inference that this story of abuse can be compared to the military's use of waterboarding to interrogate "terrorists" and other "opponents." On a different note, BBC also ran a story today that gambling can be linked to brain damage. Hmmm...