Waterboarding At Guantanamo Bay Summary

Waterboarding at 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 that holds inmates without trial indefinitely. Other methods of torture that may be used by the United states in interrogation include, but are not limited to: kicking, punching, tear gas, death threats, mock executions, forced standing, and food and sleep deprivation. In the article I chose for this essay, “The Illusions of Truth Seeking”, Michael Welch discusses and analyzes the perils of the use of torture for interrogation during the American war on terror. During this period, towards

The integration of science into criminal interrogation came forth because of the public's critiques of the “third degree.” In order to become more respected and trusted by the public, cops began to use more professional and non-abusive means. The third degree was eventually shown to be less effective in gaining confessions. From scientific methods came the innovative polygraph, or “lie detector,” test. Eventually, police tried to create human lie detectors using supposed scientific means, but the author states that “There is no psychological or physiological responses unique to lying.” So voice stress analysis, behavioral analysis, human lie detectors, and polygraphs can be written off as “junk.” While there still may be a place for polygraphs and human lie detectors, they alone do not replace the third degree. Instead of using behavioral science to detect lies, they began using it as a means of psychological

There are pieces of this method that are useful, but it is evident that it is also used for ill intentions such as to degrade, discipline, and scapegoat individuals who are simply assumed to be guilty of terrorism without trial. The reemergence of third degree tactics was prompted by a national outcry in the midst of the September 11th attacks and by the pursuit of science, which makes torture seem legitimate and calm the public's moral outcry. Proponents of torture in interrogation create convincing illusions with their “ends-justify-the-means” logic that draws on the supposed respectability of science, their beliefs in the psychology, claims that modern torture causes few serious injuries, and corrupted interpretations of law. The clandestine nature of so called “enhanced” interrogation has created inescapable gaps in knowledge that keep the public from knowing the whole