Menachen Begin tells of getting it from the KGB. From the Wikipedia entry.

It most certainly is torture.

It can lead to insanity.

Oh boy. Jeesh during hell week I slept 4 hours in five days. Yes it was a pain but it wasn't torture. Listen you guys, these people are not going to tell us their what we need to know just because we ask nicely.

You a SEAL, yeah right! Again, not the same thing, but then again, maybe they did do a number on your neurons over at Coronado. Would explain a lot of thinks!

Well, bless your heart, Sillysam - 4 hours in 5 days. I guess that does prove that 50 days of it under constant interrogation is not torture after all.
Wow.

And I guess it does prove that the KGB used it for some reason other than torture. Hmm, what could it be? Maybe they were just consumed with the need for humane interrogations.

They where communist and could not afford mattresses for the prisoners. Damn those clunky five year plans!

Ask a Mother!!! :~)

Yes, Rat, that must be it!

Sleep dep can lead to insanity (as stated earlier) and even death.

Sil: What type of hell week are you talking about. Football, SOF training, regular military hell week (it exists)?

As for torture, then the military is guilty of torturing its own troops. As a submariner I would often go weeks with only scant hours of sleep. Working in shifts, manual labor, and hours of sitting in control conducting trig to ferret out the locations of various ships (surface and subs) all in the name of stealth and being able to put weapons on target.

Ranting aside, anyone willing to kill another human being outside self-defense forfeits their rights as a human being. Sleep dep is not strong enough. Its to humane.