Should the U.S.
Government allow torture be used as a counter-terrorist strategy?
Although there
have been many discussions about the use of torture when it comes to preventing
another terrorist attack, one of the questions that some people still ask today
is, should torture be allowed to be used as a counter-terrorist strategy by the
US Government? This question, to me, really seems to challenge the integrity of
the government because it appears that the government had broken its own rules when
they had given permission for some of the detainees in Guantanamo Bay and elsewhere
to be water-boarded. The water-boarding story is known to be true because, according
to Banks (2013), “media reports indicate that in April 2003, some 20 methods
involving physical and psychological stress were approved by the Justice Department
and the Pentagon for use at Guantanamo Bay prison” (p. 235). Since there were
twenty methods of physical and psychological stress techniques approved to be
used on the detainees, it is probably fair to say that the water-boarding,
which is a form of torture, was one of the approved methods.
When the word was out that some of the
detainees were being water-boarded there were some people who believed and
still believe that this form of torture was justified and that the government had
done the right thing. In other words, they did not see anything wrong with this
form torture being used as a counter-terrorist strategy. One of the reasons for their
belief is because, in their minds, these detainees were terrorists and we
needed to get as much information from them as possible to catch the other
terrorists who were not caught. Well, even though I also want to see all of these
caught and put away behind bars for life, I don’t believe what we can get that
accomplished by torturing those who were being detained; in addition, I don’t
believe that torturing should be used as counter-terrorist strategy.
First of all, “Torture is a federal crime…; and, this law
applies to torture committed outside the United States but includes acts by
U.S. citizens” (Banks, 2013, p. 234). This means that we will be breaking the
law when we torture someone else. Furthermore, according to Banks (2013), torture
is intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain, and suffering (p. 234).
With that said, it is important to point out that the those people who were
tortured are human beings, and I don’t think that anyone deserves to be treated less than other human
beings.
Reference
Banks, C. (2013). Criminal Justice Ethics: Theory and
Practice (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks,
CA: SAGE
Publications.
I agree that torture is in fact morally wrong. However, as a retired Senior Chief that has lost former personnel that served with me to 9/11, terrorism hits very close to home in my heart. I was assigned to the Naval Academy as a Senior Enlisted Advisor from 1997 to 2000. One of the formal Navy Midshipmen under my charge died when a plane crash into the Pentagon. This was that young man’s first military command. I new others that died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq but it just didn’t alarm me as much as the one that died in the terrorist attack. I agree that the abuse of prisoners such as raping female detainees and sodomizing male detainees in Abu Ghraib was indeed sickening.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I will say that I do believe that torture is justified under the “ticking bomb argument,” which suggests that if there is intelligences of a known threat that may cause a magnitude of damage that is enormous and or threat to human life, immediate action is needed to prevent the action. (Banks, C. 2013, p. 236) I would go even further. I don’t believe that the damage has to be enormous. One life or one building is unsatisfactory to me. It shouldn’t matter how little or how few lives are lost. I believe if a policy maker loss a friend or family member to a terrorist attack, our policy makers would have a different view on torture in the arena of counterterrorism. Thanks for the post.
References:
Banks, C.(2013)Criminal justice Ethics, 3rd. Ed. Sage Publications, Inc. 2455 Teller Rd. Thousand Oaks CA. 91320
Evans: You have written an insightful blog and have supported your arguments well. Professor Taylor
ReplyDelete