Is Torture Ever Justified

If torture can allow us to gain information that can save the lives of people can the use of it be justified? Can others allow people to be beaten, starved and locked up in order to gain information and say that it was for a good cause? According to ABC News and the Washington Post, “59 percent of Americans say the torture of suspected terrorists was justified, but 58 percent say torture is often or sometimes justified, as a general matter” (Bouie). As shown above, a great deal of people agree with the use of torture and say that it can be justified, but how is the process of abusing people ok? Likewise, in the book 1984 written by George Orwell torture is used by the government in order to acquire information. Because torture is a violation

If torture has a chance of being unreliable then how can people be sure the information that is being acquired is accurate. When it comes down to torture people are willing to do and say anything in order for the pain to stop. According to The Economist, critics who have used and witnessed torture say that you cannot always rely on it: “Many critics of torture claim that it is ineffective as well as repugnant. Since people will say anything, just to stop the pain, the information gleaned may not be reliable” (Is Torture Ever Justified? 2007). Furthermore, if someone cannot say that the information is reliable then those people are just torturing people to get them to accuse themselves of actions they did not do. Other times, the people who are doing the torturing say that it cannot always be reliable. If reliable people who have experienced torturing first hand say that it is unreliable then we should not be using that as a method of getting information: “Many FBI and CIA officials also say torture does not provide reliable information” (Block). Given these points, people should be able to see that torture should not be the number one option because it leads to unreliable information that cannot even be used against a person in court. In 1984 torture is one of the various ways that the government gets information from people. For example, Winston was caught and put in jail where he is later questioned by O’Brien. O’Brien asks him some questions that rely on how many fingers he puts up but, he can tell Winston has been lying: “No, Winston, that is no use. You are lying. You still think there are four. How many fingers, please?” (Orwell 250). In this case, Winston replies by saying, “Four! Five! Four! Anything you like. Only stop it, stop the pain!” (Orwell 250). As can be seen, Winston is willing to say anything, just for O’Brien to stop torturing him in ways he does not like. Winston does not care if he truly believes