Torture and Public Policy

The Abu Ghraib torture scandal left a large blemish on the occupation of Iraq and George Bush’s War on terror. As stories of the torture happening in the Abu Ghraib prison began circulating, American citizens had trouble comprehending the acts of evil their soldiers had committed on Iraqis. Some began to see a correlation between Abu Ghraib and the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment. Though the guards in both situations were brutal to their captives, distinct differences lay in the severity of their actions. Abu Ghraib’s guards were much more vicious to their captives, and this can be attributed to the prejudices the guards felt against their captors, the environment, and the lack of training, compounded with a lack of accountability in the leadership.

The author, Melissa Mae, explains the issue, along with the opposing sides, clearly. Mae begins the essay by introducing the issue. She says the abuse of detainees at Abu Ghraib gained attention around 2004. Americans became concerned when they found out the government was using torture and were extremely upset about it. She states that people believed torture was being used as a part of the government’s “interrogation of war-on-terror detainees.” Though she tells the readers what the issue is, she never fully explains it. She only tells us that the essays she wrote about were written around the time the debate was heating up. A positive trait about this essay is that she stated the issue in the first paragraph.

Gaul Rahman, a suspected Afghan radical, was arrested and brought to a CIA-run prison within six weeks of the 9/11 attacks. Rahman was detained for the purposes of providing inside information on the bombings, as well as to shed light on possible future terrorist attacks to be committed on United States soil. A month after his arrival at the prison, guards entered his cell to discover a gruesome sight. As quoted by the Senate Intelligence Committee Report on Torture, “In November 2002, Gaul Rahman was shackled to his cell wall and made to rest unclothed on the bare concrete floor. The next day, the guards found Gaul Rahman’s dead body.” The junior officer that insisted on such treatment of Rahman was recommended by the CIA to receive a cash award of $2,500 for his superior work. Though the CIA praised the officer, many American citizens were appalled at Rahman’s treatment as detailed in the report, and the public became divided over whether Rahman’s treatment was humane. The concept of torture as a just means of security has become a significant source of dispute among the American public. With such divisiveness having the potential to create further discord in regards to the justice system and additional situations in which the use of torture is considered, a re-evaluation of interrogation policies is crucial to gain a position of solidarity on the issue. Despite the belief that torture is an effective means of combating terrorism against domestic interests, the need for

In the beginning of the 21st century, or the early 2000’s, Guantanamo Bay was used to house suspected terrorists that were captured by US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan. The detainment of such prisoners aroused suspicions around the world regarding the constitutionality of the treatment of these prisoners. This was just the beginning of many allegations against the US on the subject.

The CIA, or Central Intelligence Agency, has been the subject of government mystery for years. With so many unknown secrets, it is no wonder that mistrust and controversy have joined the mysterious aura surrounding the organization. One such controversy that has drawn much attention in recent years is that associated with the CIA's Interrogation Program. Numerous reports have been and are still continuing to be released on the program, specifically on the torture utilized. Torture in itself is a sensitive issue, even more so when combined with an already suspicious government agency. These reports have therefore divided the public on the question: should the CIA face prosecution for torture in the Interrogation Program? Due to the fact that

Means of torture have been used around the world for a number of years. At one point in time it had been terminated in the United States; however, after the events of September 11, 2001, it has come back as an acceptable way to acquire information from terrorists.

Torture, being defined by the 1984 Convention Against Torture is the “cruel, inhumane, or degrading infliction of severe pain or suffering, physical or mental, on a prisoner to obtain information or a confession, or to mete out a punishment for a suspected crime” (Beehner), is condemned and considered illegal by the United States of America and carries severe punishment for those that carry out the act. Yet the numerous amounts of maltreatment of the detainees held by the US during the War on Terror has led to humanitarian interference and, more notably, concern from the United Nations assembly. The most prominent facility in which these detainees are being held is the Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp, a site used for indefinite detention (mostly without trial), yet other secret prisons (operated by the CIA) are scattered about the world, which are also used for “enhanced” interrogation purposes.

The United States government has issued a report detailing the use of “enhanced interrogation methods” that many have defined as torture. Imagine that, in response to this report, a bill has been introduced in Congress that would forbid the use of tactics that the bill’s sponsors have defined as torture, including waterboarding, excessive sleep deprivation, and solitary confinement, in American counter-terrorism efforts.

In this essay I will defend the nature of the balance of civil liberties, rights and torture by drawing upon Jeremy Waldron, Henry Shue and Jeff McMahan’s view on the morality of torture. Torture is the act of deliberately inflicting severe physical or psychological pain to an individual who is restrained and defenseless. In this paper I will argue that torture cannot be morally justified; torture ought not to be legalized or otherwise institutionalized even in the ticking time bomb scenario because the rights of the innocent against the guilty is not equally balanced and the idealization/abstraction problem in the ticking time bomb case makes it unrealistic.

Recently the C.I.A. released a detailed torture report to the public, causing a lot of controversy among the government and American citizens. The report includes gruesome details about some techniques that were used to torture and imprison terrorism suspects of Al Qaeda. Originally it was said that the program was crucial in finding Osama Bin Laden, but after Bin Laden was killed, the program continued, using unapproved methods of torture on a number of detainees. Some C.I.A. personnel explained the torture of prisoners at time was so extreme, and tried to put a halt to the techniques, but were told by senior agency officials to continue the interrogation sessions.

Guantanamo Bay, though started with good intentions, only highlights America’s negative side. Marine Major General Michael Lehnert, who played a significant role in the opening of Guantanamo, has drastically changed his opinion and said that it, “Validates every negative perception of the U.S.” (Sutton 1). One example of this occurred in 2006, when President Bush justified the use of “physical coercion” (torture) during interrogations (Fetini 1). Some of these torture methods include isolation, beatings, sleep deprivation, and general abuse. Other tactics such as disrespect for Islamic symbols or sexual provocation are used to encourage stress in detainees (Bloche 1). These immoral methods led to an international outcry. It was later remarked that the Cuban territory upon which Guantanamo is located is being used as a “concentration camp” of sorts (Fetini 1). Guantanamo and its unethical values are being recognized by nations around the world, displaying America in a bad light.

According to my own experience, torture someone generate fear, and this can lead the one being tortured to lie just because he is being tortured. When I was a litter girl, I went through a similar experience when my mother was looking for some money that according to her, the money was on the table and suddenly disappear. I was the only one in the living room and my mom blamed me and started to bit me up asking me for the money. I had to accept that I took the money and buy something to eat since I was hungry. After my confession, my mother stopped biting me and sent me to my room. I was just crying because I knew that I did not even see any money on that table. Five minutes later, my mom was looking for her shoe under the table and she saw the money since it was a bill. She came to my room asking me that why I lied. I told her that I lied because I wanted her to stop biting me. My mother realized that when she put the money on the table, there was a fan next to the table that blew the money making it fly under the other table. In a nutshell, I was innocent!!

For years, Americans have used torture as a way of punishing those who have committed heinous crimes against others, specifically prisoners of war. Recently, controversy has risen over the debate as to whether or not it is inhumane and unconstitutional to use torture as a type of punishment. Throughout Bush’s time in office, it was made clear that him and his administration believed that interrogation was the easiest way to unveil the truth of a situation from a prisoner of war. In contrast, President Obama believes that the use of drones to kill these prisoners is the more beneficial approach, considering what they do does not constitute them to live another day on this earth. In reality, that is not the most feasible approach for anyone, as our government is left without obtaining the information they need from that person, putting our country in great danger (Monroe). In working to support President Bush’s idea that torture is essential

Futuristic methods of tracking, investigation, and spying are constantly being created and information gathering continues to evolve. With such forward thinking technological advancement, it is almost jarring to see torture stand next to our other efforts. Torture is the world’s most primitive and vile method of information gathering, and it has gone on without proper attention for much too long. Nationally, torture efforts continue to be almost entirely unchecked and, even when reviewed, aren’t seen severely enough in the eyes of the public.

Waterboarding in Guantanamo Bay might sound enjoyable to the reader if they do not know the definition of these words. Waterboarding is a method of torture used to simulate the feeling of drowning, while Guantanamo Bay is a United States military prison where inmates are held without trial indefinitely. The article I chose for this essay discusses and analyzes the perils of the use of torture for interrogation during the American war on terror. During this period, towards the end of the Bush administration, the CIA used torture tactics, such as waterboarding, for interrogation, which caused concern and outrage in many American citizens. Political leaders remained unapologetic. When asked if he authorized such tactics, Vice President Dick Cheney's reply was that he was aware and supported them. Though legal action against political officials is required in some instances, brutality is still