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Taxi To The Dark Side Analysis

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109 / Essay #3 The United States has redefined torture. Whatever they want it to be is what it is. The Opinions, interviews and facts shown in both Standard Operating Procedure and Taxi to the Dark Side explore how the United States, particularly the Bush Administration has developed its own “lawless” legal procedures that not only defy international law and basic human rights, but has also created a false justification of such acts. These laws have made it possible for the United States to do almost anything in the name of “security”. Taxi to the Dark Side suggests that this is the doings of the leaders of the United States. The documentary points out that the United states has incarcerated over 83,000 people since the fight against terror …show more content…

Standard Operating Procedure focuses on the opinions of the prison guards working at Abu Ghraib. The documentary follows the low level prison guards who were responsible for detainees and the allegations of mistreatment at the time the “Abu Ghraib Photos” were taken and were. Contrary to President Bush’s “bad apple” claim, these guards for the most part have taken on the side that the actions they had taken were “standard operating procedure” and it was “what they were told to do” rather than acts of evil or torture. A number of these guards were charged for war crimes but many were able to prove that these are standard operating procedures that the government trains them to follow. However, it seems like the training of these guards is extremely limited for them to imagine the acts that they forced these detainees to perform. Additionally, the United States government never took any responsibility when the images were released. The Taxi to the Dark Side suggests that the government is responsible for the laws that have allowed the torture of detainees but will not take responsibility or admit fault. Standard Operating Procedure shows that very few low level officers become responsible for their actions, and the U.S. government will not take responsibility for what is going on. Both documentaries show that the people who make the laws have not been held responsible and only those who implement them (guards)

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In the article “The Case for Torture”, Michael Levin argues that the use of torture as a way to save lives is justifiable and necessary. Levin draws a series of cases where torture might be acceptable so as to set certain precedent for the justification of torture in more realistic cases. HoweverLevin illustrates three cases where torture might be justifiable.he describes a terrorist keeping city of millions hostage to an atomic bomb, the second, a terrorist who has implanted remote bombs on a plane and the third, a terrorist who has kidnapped a baby. torture and its consequences have been recorded in countries around of world over a vast span of time, and for a variety of reasons. Levin makes no such attempt to expand his article beyond

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