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Zero Dark Thirty Analysis

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Zero Dark Thirty Analysis
Zero Dark Thirty Zero Dark Thirty depicts the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man. It begins with a black display with emergency dispatch calls from the terrorist attack on September 11, 2001. The main character, Maya, joined the CIA after high school and was committed to finding Osama Bin Laden. Maya was in search of Bin Laden before 911, and his attacks on home soil that sparked a much grander effort by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and from the assist of nations around the world. The dark screen then fades into a closed room with an Al Qaeda detainee as CIA agents enter the room at an undisclosed location, known as a black site two years after the aerial attacks in New York. Another main character by the name of Dan accompanies Maya to coercive interrogation techniques to elicit important information about Bin Laden and his location. Coercive techniques they apply to the Al Qaeda member, Ammar, consist being beaten while his hands are tied to the ceiling, humiliated by having to crawl naked in a dog leash, sleep deprivation caused by the loud heavy metal music, waterboardings (simulation of drowning by placing a rage on the face and pouring water), and locked into a wooden crate. I found these methods of torture harsh and inhumane. This was one of the many results that happened after the president’s response to the terrist attacks, “President George W. Bush outlined three basic military objectives. First, he wanted the U.S. military to enter Afghanistan and destroy all of the terrorists’ sanctuaries. Next, they needed to dismantle the Al Qaeda organization and incapacitate Taliban military capabilities. Finally, for his dastardly strikes against America, the president wanted bin Laden brought to justice.” (Chipman 168) The movie emphasizes the importance of torture used to acquire information about Al Qaeda. The CIA agents come up with the ingenious plan to bluff to the detainee. They make Ammar believe he provided


Cited: Beard, Jack M. "The Presidency And Building A Coalition To Wage A War On Al Qaeda And The Taliban Regime." White House Studies 4.2 (2004): 159-177. America: History and Life with Full Text. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. Chipman, Don D. "Osama Bin Laden And Guerrilla War." Studies In Conflict & Terrorism 26.3 (2003): 163-170. America: History and Life with Full Text. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. Couch, Dick. "Special Ops Forces, Seals, And The Bin Laden Takedown." Naval History 26.1 (2012): 22-23. America: History and Life with Full Text. Web. 20 Feb. 2013. Ilardi, Gaetano Joe. "The 9/11 Attacks—A Study Of Al Qaeda 's Use Of Intelligence And Counterintelligence." Studies In Conflict & Terrorism 32.3 (2009): 171-187. America: History and Life with Full Text. Web. 20 Feb. 2013.
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