Ten years ago on September 11th, terrorists successfully carried out a plan to kill thousands of innocent American civilians. On that day millions of Americans watched in horror and disbelief. How could something like this happen on American soil? In quick retaliation, President George W. Bush forcefully declared a war against terrorism and specifically against those responsible for the slaughter of his people, Al Qaida. At the head of this organization and architect of “9-11” was a man by the name of Osama Bin Laden. He openly boasted of the devastation he had caused, which in turn enraged the American people. This man eluded us for the past ten years until a little over a week ago President Barack Obama announced to the world that …show more content…
People’s imaginations start to go wild when they hear the word torture. However, there are enhanced interrogation techniques that are more humane than others. Waterboarding, for example, simulates the effect of drowning and is highly recommended by people such as former Vice President Dick Cheney (Defrank). It is highly unpleasant, but breaks no bones and leaves no bruises. It also exposes those performing the interrogation to lesser psychological strain than other methods that could be used would. Torture is accused of being a cancer in society, but if regulated and reserved for the “especially” bad guys, societal homeostasis would be maintained. Torture also has been accused of not producing reliable information (Hajjar). People argue that people will confess to anything if tortured and even reference events in history such as the Spanish Inquisition. It must be understood that if torture were to be legalized, it would not be used often. It would be reserved for the select few when occasion would arise, that have pertinent information that could help save lives. Bush even mentioned out of the many people that they captured, only three people were subjected to “enhanced interrogation.” Results were proved reliable as the Al Qaida leader, who was planning an attack on the tenth anniversary of 9-11, was found (Richey). Torture, when done right, can produce valid intelligence. We have proven with the capture of Osama Bin Laden that we can
There are different laws over all countries that control by every government in the world. For those who is a criminal or a prisoner, their country’s government has different laws of punishment to punish them. Torture is one of them. The function of torture is to force someone to say something and as a punishment. Torture is unacceptable which I disagree on which it is an action of inhumanly.
The Eighth Amendment of the United States Constitution says, “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” The fundamental idea of torture is to inflict mental or physical pain onto a suspect to coerce them into revealing information we desire. This tactic is illegal because it violates the Constitution, and in addition, it violates international agreements that our nation has committed itself to. The general provisions of the Geneva Conference of 1949 prevent the use of torture in warfare; the document specifically outlaws “Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular humiliating or degrading treatment…” By violating these laws, particularly the Constitution, our nation
Torture is known as the intentional infliction of either physical or psychological harm for the purpose of gaining something – typically information – from the subject for the benefit of the inflictor. Normal human morality would typically argue that this is a wrongful and horrendous act. On the contrary, to deal with the “war on terrorism” torture has begun to work its way towards being an accepted plan of action against terrorism targeting the United States. Terroristic acts perpetrate anger in individuals throughout the United States, so torture has migrated to being considered as a viable form of action through a blind eye. Suspect terrorists arguably have basic human rights and should not be put through such psychologically and physically damaging circumstances.
Torture is something that is known as wrong internationally. Torture is “deliberate, systematic or wanton infliction of physical or mental suffering by one or more persons acting on the orders of authority, to force a person to yield information, to confess, or any other reason” (World Medical Association, 1975, pg.1). There is a general consensus that there is a right to be free from any kind of torture as it can be found in many different human rights treaties around the world. The treaties show that all of the thoughts about torture are pointing away from the right to torture someone no matter what the case
Sometimes torture is appropriate and necessary in certain situations. Whether or not people admit it, torture was one of the main reasons that WW2 came to an end. One of the reasons D-Day happened is because of the intelligence of man named Abwehr who had information about beaches in Normandy (history.com) Some people are
And it is also prohibited. But the truth is, even when being outlawed, torture is still used silently, especially in the interrogation of terrorists. Did it have any effect on the long-term battle against terrorism of the U.S and the world? According to John McCain, it is a no. In “Torture’s Terrible Toll”, he wrote about his own experience:
Torture has been a sensitive subject in our government and among the people of the US. The article “Torture is Wrong-But it Might Work” Bloche about how even though torture is not moral to some, it can still provide effective results because of advanced techniques and psychological studies. He goes on to say that many believe it is effective but others will say it does not provide adequate results in interrogation efforts. Senators such as John McCain (R-Ariz.) believe it does not help at all; however, other government officials, such as former attorney general Michael Mukasey and former vice president Dick Cheney, believe it does (Bloche 115).
Under no circumstances should torture be an acceptable method to gain intelligence. In specific situations, stress positions can be adequate as long as they’re still within the parameters of the Geneva Conventions. The United States signed the document at the Convention Against Torture and thus needs to uphold the conditions of the agreement. Through the works of Hooks and Mosher and the Torture Memos, I hope to justify my belief that torture is unacceptable.
Firstly, torture is an effective information gathering device. It was stated in the book “Torture: When the unthinkable is morally permissible” of Mirko Bagaric and Julie Clarke that “Human have an intense desire to avoid pain, no matter how short term and most will comply with the demands of a torturer to avoid pain."( Bagaric, M. & Clarke, J, 2007). Sometimes, even the threat of torture alone would make the criminal cooperate with the interrogator. Professor Alan Dershowitz the renowned civil libertarian and law professor at Harvard University, has also been a supporter for the legalization of torture. Professor Dershowitz cited a kidnapping case in Germany in which the son of a banker was kidnapped. The boy was missing for three days and even though the police caught one of the kidnappers red-handed after seeing him collecting the
The American citizens have been wrestling with the question of whether their government intelligence agencies should be prohibited from using torture to gather information. Since the terrorist attacks on September 11th the American government vowed to do whatever it took to hunt down those involved. In May 2004, The New Yorker released photographs from the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The disturbing pictures were released on the internet showing bodies of naked Iraqis piled onto each other being tortured and humiliated. There was a huge up roar, which caused President Bush to publicly apologize. Soon after, the CIA Conformed the use of waterboarding on three Al-Qaida suspects in 2002 and 2003, which further annihilated the debate. Since these reports, torture has been in the forefront of national politics, and the public has struggled to commit to either side.
Torture: any act by which pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is deliberately inflicted on a person (Tammeus 3). Does the definition of torture truly depict what is done those who fall victim to it? Torture has affected so many people world-wide, and many historical precedence’s liked to use torture, especially in times of war; however people and organizations have teamed up to put an end to this crisis.
The people who want to ban enhanced interrogation methods reason why enhanced interrogations are not justified or necessary by saying that America is investing in twenty-first century military and intelligence and have re-energized global non-proliferation regime to deny the enemy of deadly weapons (Obama). The United States is better at protecting its border and is increasing preparedness for any future incoming attacks, as well as building new partnerships (Obama). However, if torture or enhanced interrogations occur, other countries will be less willing to become our allies (Obama, Kenneth). Thus, enhanced interrogation methods are not necessary for the security of the United States and are not justified. Furthermore, the subject under enhanced interrogations are likely to say anything in order to get the torturer to stop the pain, and so the legitimacy of the information gained is to be questioned (Kenneth). Enhanced interrogation methods aren’t the most effective way to gain information and if torture does get legalized, the enemy’s will to fight will increase and enemy soldiers will be less willing to surrender because they will know of the United State’s immorality which means they know they will be treated as cruelly as they are on their own side. Moreover, if the enemy’s
The US government throughout the years has conducted many convert operations around the world. These operations have produced actionable intelligence in regards to defeating our enemies abroad. These intelligence operations have been very controversial. People have raised the legality of these operations on whether USA or other western countries should be allowed to conduct these operations. One major issue these intelligence operations have faced is the prospect of torture. During the years of the Bush presidency the US government was infamous for the use of torture. The CIA and the Bush White House drafted up the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques. These were infamous in the brutality in which US personal treated prisoners. One of the most
Premise 3 and 4 has a lot of research you can gather to support it because there is so many scientific research in it. An example is coming from a 6,000-page study of the CIA program that was inflicted on terrorism suspects after 9/11. The study states, which was released in December 2014, “That the agency’s harsh methods failed to glean any intelligence not available through softer tactics” (google.com). Shane O’Mara, a professor of experimental brain research at Trinity College Dublin states, “Torture can produce false information by harming those areas of the brain associated with memory” (google.com), therefor torture is an ineffective way of gathering intel. Since torturing involves heavy inflicted pain, this causes the person to be in a state of “do anything to get out of it”. Meaning the victim will give any information valid or invalid just to have them stop, even if it is for just for a few minutes.
Torture has been used in many different shapes and forms all over the globe. Some resulting in both positive and negative effects. The tactics of the interrogation impacts the brain's ability to think properly. Although Government torture can help prevent terrorist attacks and lead to crucial information, torture is cruel and inhuman and could possibly result in inaccurate information being given; therefore, torture tactics should not be used.