I would like to add a small element of purely anecdotal evidence to this debate as an avid follower of the “warblogs” and discussions at the time which is slightly different from the “he was pro torture before he was against it” take in your post. My general understanding is that Hitchens was always against “torture” (disagree with Nance’s take on this) but there was both a legal and moral debate about water boarding qualifying as torture. For example see this NPR story from 2014: https://www.npr.org/2014/01/07/260155065/cia-lawyer-waterboarding-wasnt-torture-then-and-isnt-torture-now
Hitchens decided to answer the question for himself and came firmly down on the “it is torture and therefore wrong” side of the debate afterwards. He was initially wrong but continued to be intellectually consistent throughout.
I would like to add a small element of purely anecdotal evidence to this debate as an avid follower of the “warblogs” and discussions at the time which is slightly different from the “he was pro torture before he was against it” take in your post. My general understanding is that Hitchens was always against “torture” (disagree with Nance’s take on this) but there was both a legal and moral debate about water boarding qualifying as torture. For example see this NPR story from 2014: https://www.npr.org/2014/01/07/260155065/cia-lawyer-waterboarding-wasnt-torture-then-and-isnt-torture-now
Hitchens decided to answer the question for himself and came firmly down on the “it is torture and therefore wrong” side of the debate afterwards. He was initially wrong but continued to be intellectually consistent throughout.
This matches my memory as well.
And mine.