Negative Effects Of Torture

Torture is “the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or information, or for sheer cruelty” (Dictionary.com). It is thought that torture is used to get information that may save lives. In “September 17, 2001 - President George W. Bush sign[ed] a secret memo authorizing the CIA to detain suspected terrorists” (“CIA Torture Report Fast Facts”). What innocent citizens don’t know, is that torture is sometimes used wrongly and for revenge instead of information gathering, and rarely is accurate information gathered. Additionally, torture goes against Eighth Amendment which is a right that all American citizens and foreigners have. Even with all the negative effects of torture and the fact
Torture opposes the Eighth Amendment, which states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, or cruel and unusual punishments inflicted” (U.S. Const. amend. VIII). Ranging from starvation to waterboarding to humiliation, torture is indeed a cruel and unusual punishment, which proves that it disobeys a law that can ever be taken away from American citizens and even foreigners. To add on, these cruel punishments are not only breaking the law, but it isn’t always used for a good cause. For an example, “abuse at Abu Ghraib was about humiliation and punishment, not information gathering. In 2004, the Washington Post reported MPs involved in the abuse ‘said detainees were beaten and sexually humiliated as punishment or for fun’” (Frick). This further proves that torture is a cruel and unusual punishment, and that not only is torture a crime for breaking the Eighth Amendment, but more crimes are being committed in the process as well. With this being said, it is obvious that torture should not even be used, because it violates the
When torture was used, “The Senate Select Intelligence Committee spent more than five years analyzing approximately 6.3 million pages of documents, at a cost of $40 million” and even more on interrogators (“CIA Torture Report Fast Facts”). However all this money was wasted, because torture is ineffective and it did not lead to much vital information that could save lives. And if torture is brought back to the government, more money will be spent for something that isn’t really helpful to the nation. Additionally, torture is illegal by current law so talking about bringing back torture is pointless, due to the fact that they can’t use torture unless the law changes. Ultimately, torture should not and most likely will not be brought back to the United States government, because it is ineffective and