This is a very shadowy corner of the human psyche, there is no black and white when it comes to situations like this, only endless shades of grey that bleed into each other endlessly. Many people’s idea of torture is inflicting devastating bodily harm on a person’s body, and that is what the dictionary says it is, but in these modern times, the main element of political torture is the presence of fear, no bodily harm is necessary in some cases.
The most commonly used method of torture is water boarding, which simulates drowning, and has been a key element in preventing insurgent operations. Many people argue that torture yields faulty or incomplete intelligence, but there are documented situations where torture has aided in saving lives. This is only my opinion, torture is made illegal to POW’s, medical personnel, and any others captured by a hostile country by the Geneva Convention, but as we have seen by Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker, our enemies don’t care.
How far would you go to save a life? There are plenty of forms of torture that leave no physical scars, there is psychological torture which is threatening to kill ones family, or falsely claiming that one’s terror cell leader is dead. There is sensory deprivation, which was used in Guantanamo, which is when you bind, blindfold, and earmuff prisoners for extended periods of time. Starvation and thirst, which is when a prisoner is given just enough food and water, unpleasant food and water if I might add, to survive, and just enough to survive, no more.
The Essay on Water 5
Thesis Statement: Water is the most crucial part of life its self, and must never go unnoticed. I. People frequently overlook the importance of water in the body. In order to keep the body healthy, people must consume water. A healthy body is a well-hydrated body. Without the constant consumption of water the body becomes dehydrated. Perhaps people overlook waters importance, simply because its ...
Sleep deprivation uses bright lights and loud sounds to prevent someone from sleeping; just one night without sleep will drain ten points from someone’s IQ. Forced standing is where a prisoner is forced to stand, in place, for up to ten hours, which causes ankle swelling and joint pain. Sweat boxes are just rooms with poor ventilation that act like ovens, and when the prisoner cooperates, the prisoner is released. These are all methods of torture that will not leave physical scars, they are not pleasant by any means, but they will not leave scars, which is the number one criterion for American torture. (About. com)
water boarding is one of the oldest and most common forms of torture, a prisoner is strapped to a board, face up, cloth wrapped around his face and water is poured onto the prisoner’s face, this causes the prisoner to cough and gag until the cloth is removed, this is considered a very mild form of torture and a lot of American delegates don’t even consider it torture at all. Ex- Chief of the CIA, Jose Rodriguez spoke out about the use of water boarding and other enhanced interrogation techniques. He insisted that the use of these techniques on Khalid Sheik Mohammed thwarted several Al-Quaeda plans on American soil. Mr. Rodriguez believes the cumulative effect of the enhanced techniques was instrumental in ensuring the terrorist gave up information. Further, he told Ms Stahl the intelligence gained from this and other high-level interrogations had helped to thwart at least 10 other planned terrorist attacks. ” (Dailymail. com) The Geneva Convention was made to protect captured soldiers, civilians, medical personnel, or any others caught in hostile territories. Most of our enemies today don’t seem to care about the Geneva Convention; they are executed on live television for the world to see.
Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker were members of the 101st airborne, and were captured in Iraq. Shortly after, Al-Quaeda released a video with the two dead American soldiers, with a superimposed voice calling all Muslims to Jihad. The American’s bodied were then found near where they were abducted, beheaded, mutilated, and bombs strapped to them. (Outsidethebeltway. com) None of these barbaric actions are supported by the Geneva Convention, and people still think what we do to the enemy is more unethical, since when is death more ethical than modern day physical torture?
The Essay on To torture or not to torture prisoners
Torture is taken to be a process of inflicting pain to someone in whatever form for purposes of obtaining information. The information to be given is usually a confession. In this regard, torture can take a form of physical form or mental as well as emotional form. Torture is a painful experience on the side of the person to whom the torture is done. The main goal is to force a person to confess ...
At least, as Americans, we support, and abide by the Geneva Convention. This topic, I feel, will never be resolved completely, people feel too strongly on both sides, but I do feel that in some situations, torture should be able to be applied to prisoners. As long as we follow our guidelines for enhanced interrogation, I feel there shouldn’t be as big of an ethical debate, as long as there is no physical harm done to the prisoner; we should be able to use these methods to obtain pertinent information.
As Ex- CIA chief Jose Rodriguez stated, water boarding used on Khalid Sheik Mohammed was successful in thwarting at least ten Al-Quaeda attacks planned on American soil. We as Americans follow the Geneva Convention, and all the branches off it, our enemies don’t recognize anything but their Jihad, as seen by American soldiers Kristian Menchaca and Thomas Tucker, and the sad part is, there are many more cases of American soldiers being publicly executed on live television.
Execution is not more ethical that political torture as defined by America. If a bomb were about to go off, I would do whatever it took to save those people’s lives, I feel very strongly about this as an American. Works Cited 1. Head, Tom. American Torture Techniques. Ed. Mike Zane. N. p. , 11 Mar. 2012. Web. 11 July 2012. <http://civilliberty. about. com/od/waronterror/p/torturelite. htm>. 2. Seales, Rebecca. What We Did Saved American Lives. Ed.
Rebecca Seales. N. p. , 27 Apr. 2012. Web. 11 July 2012. <http://www. dailymail. co. uk/news/article-2135981/What-did-saved-American-lives-Ex-CIA-chief-defends-waterboarding-al-Qaeda-leader. html>. 3. Joyner, James. U. S. Soldiers Beheaded By Al-Quaeda. Ed. James Joyner. N. p. , 10 July 2006. Web. 11 July 2012. <http://www. outsidethebeltway. com/beheading_desecration_video_of_dead_us_soldiers_released_on_internet_by_al_qaeda_videoimages/>.
