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Recommended: The case of torture
Many have said that they would want nonlethal torture to be used in such cases but “did not want torture to be officially recognized by our legal system.” Similar statements have posited that while “torture might be necessary in a given situation it could never be right.” This approach, that of keeping torture off-the-books, is in direct conflict with the necessity for accountability and transparency in a democracy. A democracy cannot work if the public is kept in the dark. The public must know what is going on in order to approve or disapprove.
Mahatma Gandhi, the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement states “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” This is important because torture is brutal on the body and mind. The article “Torture’s Terrible Toll” by John McCain is more convincing then the article “The Case for Torture” by Michael Levin because McCain provides more logical reasoning, he adds his own personal experience of being a captured prisoner during the Vietnam War, and he creates an emotional bond with people around the world. Through more logical reasoning McCain Argument is more valid than Levin.
The Case for Torture Wins Torture is it morally acceptable? Many have debated this argument but I would like to bring up two main conflicting view points from Michael Levin, and Marzieh Ghisai. Michael Levin is a Jewish law professor who wrote The Case for Torture where he advocates where torture is acceptable in some circumstances.
It is very difficult to get dangerous people to talk, so we use dangerous methods to get them to talk. Getting all the information from prisoners, terrorists, gangsters, and mobsters held by the CIA is crucial to saving American lives. After the Boston Marathon bombing one of the suspects escaped from the scene and the other was caught by police, the one that was held by the CIA was tortured until he spoke of his brother’s hideout where police shot and killed the terrorist. Without torture there would still be a terrorist running free on the streets of Boston. In 2011 the CIA
Many people might think that torture is cruel, unacceptable and it does not show humanity. In contrast, Michael Levin says that implementing torture is needed to prevent future evil acts. In “The Case for Torture”, Michael Levin also makes it clear that there are situations in which torture is not merely acceptable but morally necessary. Levin argues that implementing torture to save people lives is morally right and reasonable. Levin’s purpose of his text is to let people know that there are times when torture becomes an option to save and protect innocent lives.
The author believes that the thoughts of enlightened societies are unwise and ascertains that there are situations whereby torture becomes morally mandatory in dealing with terrorists.
Torture is never justified, it doesn’t matter who is being tortured or what information may be discovered. In his book, Slahi gives the reader a grim picture of what prisoners held at Guantanamo are subjected to 24 hours a day. Detainees are tortured in and out of interrogation and the methods that are used vary. For instance, during one interrogation Slahi was sexually assaulted by two female personnel saying they were going to teach him about “great American sex.” (Slahi, P. 230)
In medieval times, torture was used to punish criminals, deter crime, and gather information. There were many different types of tortures, most of which were brutal and painful. At the time, torture was deemed necessary to maintain order. Laws were harsh and torture was severe, but effective form of punishment. Despite its effectiveness, torture was often an unfair and extremely cruel punishment, and should have been eliminated in all forms.
2016). Using this ethical framework to argue against torture, one needs to consider the violation of the terrorist’s rights. Utilitarians argue that under a scenario where thousands of people are in danger, the well-being of the larger community is more important than neglecting the rights of a single individual (Krauthammer 2005). The simple idea of taking away a person’s autonomy for the sake of others violates rights ethics. To comprehend the violation upon the victim’s rights, it is important to understand how torture feels, “Brian describes his body as having become an object… pain is the central reality; it dominates experience and expression (Wisnewski 2010, 81).”
Some examples of why torture work: Some Russians were kidnapped in Lebanon. When Russians saw that one of the four hostage was killed they stopped all negotiation. They found a relative of the leader of terrorist group Hezbollah and killed him, then they sent a dead body and a testicle to the Hezbollah leader. After threatening him that they will kill more of his family if the kidnapped Russian are not released, he released them. Abu Zubaydah a known terrorist was waterboarded leading the CIA to capture one of the most important terrorist of al-Qaida Mohammed the mastermind of 9/11.
08 Feb. 2016. This source explains that torture is actually one of the last methods used when they are interrogating someone since many know that it has a very low success rate. If the person is not willing to cooperate, they go down a list. Many people thought to use the top methods as they are not as immoral. Getting to the end of the list thought means they have nothing else to make the person talk which is why they use
With all the torture that goes on one would think the inmates would try to do something, and in fact they have. One of the things they tried was the hunger strikes and we see how that went, moreover, one of the lucky inmates who got a trial, and were found not guilty, went to one of the high courts to try to “press charges” against the US for torture. The court ruled that tapes from GTMO be released to prove the inhumane torture
Most of the time when someone is tortured it is because the interrogators are desperate for Important or valuable information. However, why would real “terrorist” give up valuable information that would expose their cause and what they believe in when they know they are going to die one way or the other. This just goes to show that the “suspected terrorist” are in fact suspected and aren’t real terrorist and shouldn’t be
The depiction of torture as the only form of interrogation hurts the
However, the other 46% of people would not simply recommend torture if it was ineffective. A recent interview with Mr. Zaid Sohail, medical student at UW-Madison, adequately sums up the view of many Americans today. Mr. Sohail was asked what he thought about the current torture system, involving brutal physical pain in the United States to which he responded, “I think that methods of torture are more inhumane and traumatizing than what they should be. I think that torture shouldn’t exist at all”. Many people who say that torture is ineffective think of it as heinous;