The Fallacy of the Ticking Time-Bomb Scenario

Enhanced Interrogation Techniques have their situational uses. One major claim is the lauded Ticking Time Bomb scenario in which the case is laid out in a needs of the many versus the needs of the one format. The premise as given by Bob Brecher is thus, “Suppose there is good reason to think that someone has planted a bomb in a public place. And suppose there is good reason to think that it is going to go off in the next two hours or so, and that it is going to kill and maim dozens of people, maybe hundreds. The question is all too real. Imagine, to bring the example closer to home, that the police or the secret services had known that bombs were shortly to go off somewhere in Bali, Madrid, Lonon or Sharm-el-Sheikh in the attacks of 2004 and 2005. But no one knows where the bomb is – except one person, who is already in custody. Naturally they have no intention of revealing where the bomb is. Maybe they have planted it themselves; maybe not. Either way, they remain silent. Should they be tortured to force them to reveal where the bomb is?”(Torture and the Ticking Bomb 1). In this scenario there is substantial moral justification for torture. Consider this, law enforcement believes that torturing the target will save

The United States is considered one of the most powerful countries in the world. They have a well organized and trained armed forces. But, they were built with principles and moral standards. According to those rules, people could not do what they pleased all the time. The paper signed by the founding Fathers is, the Constitution of the United States, which prohibits the enforcers of the law to torture. Yet, it is still done. There is no straight statement that prohibits torture. An arguement of whether it can be legal or not is made, for the use of, retriving important information, the use of the 8th amendment and how 9/ 11 change some perspectives.

In the article Should the Ticking Bomb Terrorist Be Tortured? from his book titled Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge, Alan M. Dershowitz presents measures that aim to prevent terrorism and still uphold US legal, moral and humanitarian values in his article. According to Dershowitz, the greatest danger facing the world today comes from religiously inspired, state sponsored terrorist groups that seek to develop weapons of mass destruction for use against civilian targets.[2]

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

In August of 2002, without consulting Congress, the Bush administration changed the definition of torture by military standards to allow for previously illegal interrogation techniques. (Inside Guantanamo) Bush lost a lot of respect from American citizens for doing this on his own instead of consulting Congress because it added a lot of suspicion that he was trying to hide something. The Pentagon organized the interrogation techniques into three categories. The first one included yelling and deception techniques and the second included sensory deprivation, isolation, stress positions, extensive interrogation, hooding, clothing removal, and the use of phobias. The third and most severe category included waterboarding and even death threats. (Greenberg 221) Bush wanted justice to be served to the men who planned and carried out the deaths of thousands of innocent Americans in the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He thought the families of the thousands killed that day deserved that justice. Soon after, President Bush sent 14 men to Guantanamo Bay so that justice could be served to them by the military commissions he had proposed. They were to be put under the custody of the CIA where they would get what Bush thought they deserved and thanks to the Bybee Memo, Bush had complete, unlimited power when it came to core war matters such as this. While constitutional, the actions of the Bush administration as he went behind Congress’s back and came up with a new definition for torture

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.

Preston, O’Neal & Talaga (2017) explain that Bipolar disorder is set apart from depressive disorder due to its mania or hypomania symptoms. Bipolar disorder is unique in its levels of symptoms and differentiate them from any other diagnosis. The levels of noreepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine are compromised in the brain that throw off the chemical imbalance. Anotherwards, the Dopamine and glutamate levels spike which typical results in a manic state. The use of lithium allows for the noreepinephrine, serotonin and dopamine to function at their optimal levels. Lithium has been in use for over sixty years and has been successful in the reduction of suicide risk (Malhi, Tanious, Das, Coulston & Berk, 2013). “Lithium reduces excitatory

“Torture and abusive interrogation tactics are illegal under both U.S. law and international law. Torture is prohibited under federal law, as are lesser forms of detainee abuse such as cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment.” (Human Rights First)

The city of Chicago has been displayed as a dangerous city in which all residents are affiliated with drugs, gangs, and misconduct of firearms. Whether someone fits into this stereotype or not, is normally based on their surroundings and their interactions with others. Growing up in Gage Park, named one of the worst neighborhoods, falling into this stereotype and becoming affiliated with drugs, guns, and gangs, would not be too hard for someone to do. However, I have lived in Gage Park my whole life and have not fallen into the status quo. I have had family members and friends fall into this realm of unpleasantness and watching them become another wrong kind of statistic is upsetting. I have been faced with the decision of continuing to have

Torture has long been a controversial issue in the battle against terrorism. Especially, the catastrophic incident of September 11, 2001 has once again brought the issue into debate, and this time with more rage than ever before. Even until today, the debate over should we or should we not use torture interrogation to obtain information from terrorists has never died down. Many questions were brought up: Does the method go against the law of human rights? Does it help prevent more terrorist attacks? Should it be made visible by law? It is undeniable that the use of torture interrogation surely brings up a lot of problems as well as criticism. One of the biggest problems is that if torture is effective at all. There are

‘Phycologists find these tactics immoral and beyond torturous, and a ticking time bomb for disaster (O’Donohue).’ Although not everyone disagrees with the tactics Research has shown that these interrogations both have pros and cons. Research from the Phycological association shows that these types of interrogations “betrays trust and human rights, professional ethics and the society's trust (Pope).” For example, many believe that the interrogations break the Miranda rights per the 5th amendment, but others argue that the 5th amendment rights should be reserved only for people holding a valid US citizenship. (Rychlak) Medical ethics of the prisoners of Guantanamo Bay detention center in Cuba, because these facilities are not on US soil the 5th Amendment rights should also apply to these detainees that are detained, making it a national policy. (Quinn) After the 9/11 attacks congress authorized president Bush to authorize “all necessary and appropriate force against those nations, organizations, or persons he determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the terrorist attacks that occurred on September 11, 2001, or harbored such organizations or persons, to prevent any future acts of international terrorism against the United States by such nations, organizations or persons’ (Worthington).” However, this was quickly shut down by former

According to the course text, the creation of the torture warrant can only be imposed by a judge in cases where there is need for information in order to save lives and if there is probable cause that the criminal has information and is not willing to reveal the information to law enforcement (Siegel, 2015). If I was a government agent as was holding a prisoner that has been arrest for being a suspect terrorist and the bomb was about to go off in two hours, then I would definitely use torture. The reason I would use torture is because despite times calls for despite measure sometimes. In addition, it is normal for law enforcement to put pressure on suspects to get information (Siegel, 2015).Therefore, I would do what I had to do to ensure

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

For over the past ten years, massive amounts of studies have gone into what we put into our bodies, especially food, and how it affects us in a physical way. However, many still don’t know that diet can have a large affect on our mental health and the reduction or increase of psychological stress. While diet alone can not cure a mental illness, food can still have a great affect on our emotions.

“If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say anything at all” implemented by youth, authorities has limited the right to free speech in schools, in order to “protect” societies generations from reality. However, the limitation of free speech is unjust as it revokes America’s constitutional rights, for with each item we restrict, a piece is worn away from America’s identity. Although it may not seem possible with due time the nation of the United States will transform into the dystopian society children read about in fictional novels. Therefore, the belief to enforce restrictions on the common masses’ voice is to oppress man’s humanity.