Sgt. Klay South Talks About Mancow's "Waterboarding"

"I have no experience in any kind of interrogation whatsoever."

Military.com spoke to Marine Sgt. Klay South (Ret) about his experience on Erich "Mancow" Muller's radio program and got his side of the story.

Earlier today, we posted a story about Gawker's allegations that Mancow's waterboarding was a hoax. The truth seems to be a bit more complicated.

South says he was contacted by publicist David Kupcinet, who presented the appearance on the radio program as an opportunity to raise money and awareness for South's Veterans of Valor organization. South knows Kupcinet from his Kup's Purple Heart Cruise, a revival of a charity event originally run from 1945-1995 by his grandfather, Chicago Sun-Times columnist Irv Kupcinet.

South also says he had no experience with waterboarding, so Mancow's producers pointed him to the website waterboarding.org to learn something about what they wanted him to do on the program.

In the video, no one from the show ever claims that South has experience in waterboarding or any other interrogation techniques, although they do address him as "Sergeant." At the end of the video, when asked how Mancow held up, South replies, "Not too bad. Well, I'm not a professional, so I really can't say."

South doesn't believe he misrepresented himself and says, "I did it to raise money for the wounded troops."

Did Mancow plan his "waterboarding" as a radio stunt and find the experience far more traumatic than he anticipated or was his reaction planned from the beginning? Why did he go on "Countdown" a few days later and why did Keith Olbermann have Mancow on if his producers knew about the emails?

There are more quotes from South, Mancow and the Olbermann program in a follow-up story at Gawker. 

Here's an official statement from Veterans of Valor:

Sgt. South received his training as 0311 Infantry at Camp Pendleton's School of Infantry in 2003 before being assigned to 3rd Bn, 5th Marines, 1st Division as Infantry Marine. During his time in Iraq, Sgt. South served as a fire team leader in an infantry platoon. At no time during his Marine Corps career did Sgt. South receive training in, perform or observe interrogations of enemy combatants. 

Sgt. South has founded VETERANS of VALOR which assist combat wounded reintegrate into their local communities. His zeal was spurred by his own experience when he was critically wounded. Sgt. South is passionate about his mission of helping combat wounded who serve in the United States military.

What about the funds South hoped to raise through his radio appearance? As of today, Veterans of Valor has not received the promised $10,000 from Keith Olbermann nor any funds from Mancow.

UPDATE: Mancow goes off again at Gawker and says comparing his "wanterboarding" stunt to military interrogation is like comparing "apples to hand grenades."

Was Mancow's Waterboarding a Hoax?

Emails from Mancow's publicists suggest that he staged the waterboarding demonstration that took place on his radio show on Friday, May 22.

Gawker has published a series of emails describing efforts by Chicago publicists to locate a replacement waterboarder after the original dropped out the day before the radio show. If they're real, the most damning message comes from Mancow's publicist Linda Shafran, who allegedly says, "It is going to have to look 'real' but of course would be simulated with Mancow acting like he is drowning. It will be a hoax but have to look real. Would be great if they could dress in fatigues and bring whatever is needed. We will supply the water."

The person who gave the emails to Gawker claims to have shared them with the "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" staff before Mancow's appearance on Tuesday, May 26 but Olbermann ignored the allegations and had Mancow on the show anyway.

Marine Sgt. Klay South poured the water on Mancow. If the waterboarding was fake, South was in on the hoax. Military.com has emailed South through his Veterans of Valor website to give him a chance to comment on Gawker's allegations.

All of this begs a bigger question: why are we letting the guy who made this commercial drive the discussion about real life-and-death issues that impact the safety of the men and women who protect our country?

Let's Hope Ted Nugent Didn't Accidentally Have a Red Bull Cola

More stress for athletes who have to pass random drug tests and anyone else who proudly claims they don't do drugs: health officials in Germany have banned the sale of Red Bull Cola because they have discovered it contains traces of cocaine. (via Time)

Maybe Waterboarding Can Bring America Together

Former sportscaster Keith Olbermann and radio disk jockey Erich "Mancow" Muller have an oddly respectful conversation about torture on MSNBC.

Chris Cornell Still Won't Apologize for That Album He Made With Timbaland

Former lead singer of Soundgarden and Audioslave talks to the Pentagon Channel about music therapy and his solo career. (via DoDvClips.mil)

Army Developers Obsessed With "Star Wars"

The Soldier of the Future will also be taking more Performance Enhancing Drugs than A-Rod and Lance Armstrong combined. Read about the Natick Soldier Systems Center's plans for the year 2030 at the New York Post. (via Kotaku)

TXTing Will Make Your Kids Go Blind

Grown-ups at the New York Times warn that text messaging is the new masturbation.

Is Waterboarding Torture or is Mancow Just a Wuss?

More adventures in Celebrity Waterboarding: Chicago radio shock jock Mancow Muller volunteered to take on the critics and allowed Marine Sgt. Klay South to waterboard him on the air last Friday May 22.

Mancow lasted all of eight seconds, afterwards loudly and repeatedly proclaiming that waterboarding is "absolutely torture."

America probably shouldn't take a guy called Mancow as the final word on the subject, but Katie Couric, Brian Williams, Rush Limbaugh or Bill O'Reilly don't seem to be volunteering to give it a try.

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann got very excited and once again baited Fox News' Sean Hannity, who hasn't followed up on an alleged offer to be waterboarded for charity. Olbermann has instead donated $10K to Veterans of Valor, a charity run by the Marine who poured the water on Mancow.

Here's hoping the debate continues. I'm sure that Eminem or that guy who plays Captain Kirk will have something to add to our national discussion.

Read more at Mancow's website. Keith has another long rant about waterboarding at MSNBC. No comment yet from Sean Hannity, but check back here for updates. Original link via TMZ.

Intruder Alert!

Back in the '80s, you actually had to leave the house to play the best video games. There are lots of pictures of thirty great arcade games over at AMOG.

Hollywood's Greatest Character Actor

Charles Napier might be best-known as Murdock in "Rambo: First Blood Part II" or Lt. Boyle in "The Silence of the Lambs," but he started his career playing Baxter Wolfe in Russ Meyer's legendary "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls." Napier talks about his favorite roles and his time with Meyer in a long interview at The AV Club.