The Importance of Torture in Relation to National Security
The Importance of Torture in Relation to National Security
2,977. The number of lives our country lost, due to a group of hijackers linked to Al-Qaeda that planned a terrorist attack on our nation. This day will always be remembered as September 11, 2001, or informally known as simply 9/11. This casualty count does not include the additional heart wrenching calls that were made, tears that were shed, or families that were torn apart. Our nation’s leaders often reflect on this horrific incident and think to themselves, “What could we have done to prevent this? What can we do to avoid this from happening again?” If there were a way to avoid another mass loss of innocent lives, a way to prevent another situation filled with sickening phone calls bursting with terror, a way to avert streets filled with chaos and screams of pain, wouldn’t our country take this opportunity? Since 9/11, government agencies have adapted a new method to gather valuable information from detainees that could help put an end to terrorism, and protect our nation from similar future horrific events: torture. If deemed necessary to ensure our nation’s national security, it is not only permissible, but also advisable that our country should exercise torture on prisoners who withhold valuable information. Using “enhanced interrogation techniques”, such as torture, on detainees in times of crisis not only gives our country a better chance at extracting valuable information, but also allows information to be obtained in a more timely manner. A prime example of when torture may be necessary to extract valuable information from a detainee when under a time constraint is in the highly discussed, hypothetical “ticking time bomb” scenario. Imagine our country’s highly trained operatives have a terrorist in captivity that has either just planted a bomb in a highly populated area, or sent another terrorist to do it for them. The bomb is programmed to explode at an unknown time, and the captive
2,977. The number of lives our country lost, due to a group of hijackers linked to Al-Qaeda that planned a terrorist attack on our nation. This day will always be remembered as September 11, 2001, or informally known as simply 9/11. This casualty count does not include the additional heart wrenching calls that were made, tears that were shed, or families that were torn apart. Our nation’s leaders often reflect on this horrific incident and think to themselves, “What could we have done to prevent this? What can we do to avoid this from happening again?” If there were a way to avoid another mass loss of innocent lives, a way to prevent another situation filled with sickening phone calls bursting with terror, a way to avert streets filled with chaos and screams of pain, wouldn’t our country take this opportunity? Since 9/11, government agencies have adapted a new method to gather valuable information from detainees that could help put an end to terrorism, and protect our nation from similar future horrific events: torture. If deemed necessary to ensure our nation’s national security, it is not only permissible, but also advisable that our country should exercise torture on prisoners who withhold valuable information. Using “enhanced interrogation techniques”, such as torture, on detainees in times of crisis not only gives our country a better chance at extracting valuable information, but also allows information to be obtained in a more timely manner. A prime example of when torture may be necessary to extract valuable information from a detainee when under a time constraint is in the highly discussed, hypothetical “ticking time bomb” scenario. Imagine our country’s highly trained operatives have a terrorist in captivity that has either just planted a bomb in a highly populated area, or sent another terrorist to do it for them. The bomb is programmed to explode at an unknown time, and the captive