Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the al Qaeda member who admitted to planning the September 11 terrorist attacks, was water boarded 183 times by CIA interrogators, a 2005 Justice Department memo reveals. The memo indicates that another al Qaeda suspect, Abu Zubaydah, was waterboarded 83 times.

Waterboarding is a technique by which prisoners are held under water until they confess to something or relinquish some desired information. During his short time in office, President Obama has banned the practice of water boarding, going against the Bush administration’s statement that it is not a form of torture.

The CIA interrogation program under which Mohammed was tried is under investigation by the Senate Intelligence Committee. In addition to water boarding, this program employed the use of slamming prisoners into walls and depriving them of sleep. Bush administration officials stand behind these methods as reliable ways to get needed information.