preview

Argumentative Essay On Torture

Decent Essays
Open Document

The events that occurred on the date of September 11th will never be forgotten. Millions of Americans watched as two hijackers crashed a plane into the World Trade Center. The towers, filled with smoke, broken glass, and debris, collapsed and killed thousands. This event left a large impact on Americans. Many began to wonder how we could prevent such a tragedy from occurring again. After President Bush’s proposal of preemptive war, ideas of using torture for terrorists emerged. It was seen as a way to get information from terrorists quickly in order to prevent the loss of life. However, torture is not a viable way to prevent the loss of life because it is inhumane, violates the American standard, and is ineffective. To begin with, torture is inhumane. Michael Levin, author of Case for Torture, believes that because terrorists have “[renounced civilized standards]” (Levin 95) they are not subject to protection under the law. However, …show more content…

The most well-known support for torture is the “ticking time bomb” scenario. The author of “Case for Torture” gives an example of this by asking the reader to “suppose a terrorist has hidden an atomic bomb on Manhattan Island” (Levin 95) but will not “disclose where the bomb is” (95). In doing this, the reader reflects on how effective torture would be in this specific situation. However, the argument fails to address that torture is not the only way to gain information or more importantly, that it is the correct information. Neurologist Lawrence Hinkle, who examined Korean War veterans after communist “brain-washing” stated that “any circumstance that impairs the function of the brain potentially affects the ability to give information and well as the ability to withhold it” (Arrigo 547). This proves that just because torture is being used does not guarantee that the terrorists will give all information up. They can easily create a lie or withhold the truth. Therefore, torture is

Get Access