...No Justification for Torturing Terrorist The word torture makes teeth cringe with images of a person tied down to a chair with ruptured lips, bruised face, in a room full of people taking turns in “beating the truth” out of them. Torturers have an illusion of finding the “truth” through creative forms of inflicting agonizing pain on a terrorist. During times of crisis this technique can be tempting to practice. The ticking time bomb scenario is always a form in an attempt to justify torture (Smith). These methods can cause a negative impact in communities in our nation. Torture should not be an option. Torture is defined as: 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). In human nature every being is wired to survive. The primal instinct takes over a person when they are being tortured and know that they are in a life or death situation. Regardless if they know anything about what the interrogators want to know, they will say anything to keep themselves from being tortured. Excruciating pain is not the only way of obtaining information because torture has two forms that could be either physical or psychological (law.harvard.edu). There have been data-based attempts to probe the definition of torture. In a sophisticated empirical study of 432 torture survivors, Metin Basoglu (2009) analyzed the psychological meaning of 46 torture techniques. Statistical...
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...Nonetheless, the Israeli Supreme Court outlawed all use of even moderate, non-lethal physical pressure. It responded to the ticking bomb scenario by saying that if a security agent thought it was necessary to use physical pressure in order to prevent many deaths, he could take his chances, be prosecuted, and try to raise a defense of “necessity”. In my book Shouting Fire, I wrote critically of this decision on the ground that it places security officials in an impossible dilemma. It would be better if any such official could seek an advanced ruling from a judge, as to whether physical pressure is warranted under the specific circumstances, in order to avoid being subject to an after the fact risk of imprisonment. Thus was born the proposal for a torture warrant. Actually it was a rebirth, because half a millennium ago torture warrants were part of the law of Great Britain. They could be sought only in cases involving grave threats to the Crown or the Empire and were granted in about one case a year. Judges even in those times, were extremely reluctant to authorize the thumb screw. Why then should we even think about returning to an old practice that was abolished in England many years ago. The reason is because if we ever did have a ticking bomb case - - especially a ticking nuclear bomb case - - law enforcement officials would in fact resort to physical force, even torture, as a last resort. In speaking to numerous audiences since September 11th - - audiences...
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...situations. For example, it uses the ticking bomb scenario. This means that torture can be justified in order to force a political criminal to reveal the location of an explosive device before it can go off and kill many people. A number of people believe that torture can never be justified in a “moral society” no matter what the intent. Famous commentator and legal scholar Alan Dershowitz disagrees. He believes that torture can be justified in certain instances especially when many lives are in danger. He believes that most Americans would want law enforcement to use such methods even if the United Nations forbids torture no matter the circumstance. Dershowitz proposes a “torture warrant” where 1.there is an absolute need to obtain information in order to save lives, 2. Probable cause that the suspect has valuable information. The suspect would have immunity from prosecution based on information given. The warrant will limit torture to non-lethal means. They recognize that torture has been used before and think that if it’s already used, wouldn’t it be better to regulate it? Human rights watch is an international group dedicated to protecting the human rights of people around the world counters Dershowitz. They state that the ticking bomb scenario is down for debate that specific situation rarely ever happens. Interrogators rarely learn that a suspect in custody has information about a terrorist attack or bombing. They state that the ticking bomb scenario could be dangerous and...
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...Essay #5 In Michael Levin’s essay “The Case for Torture,” he states that most view torture as unacceptable and is rejected by our society. Levin also says that in some circumstances torture is not only necessary but also morally compelling. He recognizes that torture is unlawful but that does not matter when millions of lives may be at stake. He believes it’s a lot worse to let millions of innocents die then to just torture one guilty terrorist. Levin also makes clear that torture should not be used to punish. Levin notes the difference between the terrorist and its victim: The victim is unwillingly risking his or her life as opposed to the terrorist he or she is risking his or her life voluntarily which implies that he or she is giving up rights by committing such action. Levin also says that doing nothing to stop evil is the biggest issue. After reviewing Levin’s essay carefully I feel he does not have enough convincing information. The scenarios he uses as examples are not likely to happen in real life so he doesn’t have much credibility. Torture is defined as the intentional infliction of severe mental or physical pain or suffering by or with the consent of the state authorities for a specific purpose. Torture is often used to punish, to obtain information or a confession, to take revenge on a person or persons or create terror and fear. Some of the most common methods of physical torture include beating, electric shocks, stretching, submersion or waterboarding...
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...bomber reveals the location of the bombs he planted, it may save the lives of hundreds of people, prevent the grief and loss to the victims and their friends and families brought on by the bombs, prevent a nationwide panic, as well as saving millions of dollars needed to repair the damage to the infrastructures and economy cause by the bombs. The loss of so many lives would also result in the friends and families of the victims to endure emotional suffering as they cope with the grief and loss of their loved ones. Such attack would leave the city or country paralyzed with anxiety as they fear the next attack would happen...
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...Running head: HOMELAND SECURITY 410 - FINAL PROJECT TOPIC Provide a synopsis of the article written by Professor Alan Dershowitz. Then identify and describe the critical issues addressed in the article. In your paper, thoroughly discuss and evaluate the following concepts: the ticking time bomb hypothesis; Dershowitz's comments regarding Jeremy Bentham as well as his comments about Voltaire's views; and the three ways to deal with the use of torture in the ticking time bomb situation, as stated by the Israeli government-appointed commission of the late 1980s. As part of the discussion about the commission's conclusions, include Dershowitz's "fourth road." Abstract After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on America, numerous articles and books were published. These articles and books analyzed why the 9/11 attack happened and proposed solutions on how to prevent terrorist attacks in the future. Alan Dershowitz contributed to this body of literature from a lawyer's perspective in his book titled Why Terrorism Works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge. In an article from the book titled, Should the Ticking Time Bomb Terrorist Be Tortured, many of his suggestions such as the use of torture, are rather controversial; however, Dershowitz encourages people to rethink current notions of security, liberty, and international law. Alan Dershowitz acknowledges that he is not an expert on terrorism; his opinions, suggestions and methods...
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...Humanity always tried to fix its standards according to different lifestyles. So, abiding by a specific lifestyle imposes certain conditions on humans. In this paper, I will be tackling the topic of torture and how modern civilizations cannot cope with such an idea so disastrous and humiliating to mankind. Justifying the act of torture cannot resemble but an annoying image of humanity. In what’s below, I will argue with and against the practice of torture and will come to a conclusion that no matter what, torture will always reflect negatively on the society as the only way of justifying it is through perfect knowledge of the consequences that no one knows but God. I also considered the scenario of ticket- time bomb because it is considered to be the heaviest argument that justifies torture. So, let’s see how torture isn’t justified. One night, I went into my house and saw a man, on TV, beating a defenceless tied person. The man was actually beating the guy and enjoying the extreme pain he’s suffering from. He even cut the guy’s feet with a butcher’s knife. My whole family was watching the movie. My dad seemed to enjoy the movie. My brother was just shouting for the man and encouraging him to beat the guy further. My mom had no reaction towards what’s happening. And still my sister who looked really annoyed and demanded to change the channel over and over. This gives rise to the question of whether torture should be accepted or not. And does accepting torture imply that it is...
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...wrong message to all the countries that already violate those rights. Those in favor of torture legalization believe the law can be used to supervise its use. They believe that the law should be changed to allow torture to some extent and take part of the torture process as a mean of supervision. However, they do not believe in torture to be among primary interrogation methods instead they limit it to some rare cases such as the “ticking bomb scenario.” The “ticking bomb scenario” is when a bomb is set to explode to kill people and the suspect is believed to carry information on the bomb location and how to stop it. Alan Dershowitz, a professor at Harvard states in his article The Case for Torture Warrants, torturing a suspect in the case of the “ticking bomb scenario” would be justifiable because in this case it is one life against the life of thousands. He adds torture should be done under the law for its transparency (Dershowitz, 3). This argument appears to serve only in the United States. Legalization of torture as an answer to the “ticking bomb scenario” would be wrong because the same argument may be used by terrorists to defend themselves against the United States. Would United States allow one of its brave soldiers to be tortured because he carries intelligence about an impending attack against terrorists? Clearly this argument does not solve the real problem; instead it can be used as a justification for those who would mistreat United States soldiers. In addition, the...
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...Delanders Thompson Ms.Solomon Honors English II May 9, 2014 Torture Used an Interrogation Strategy One of the most controversially talked about topics is should torture be used. Torture is one of the most extreme forms of human violence (Gernity). Torture dates back to 530 A.D, when Roman jurists espoused to virtues of torture as the highest form of truth (Green). Torture was a well-established American tradition (Gewen). Torture can be used to gain valuable information in a timely manner, and other countries at war will not hesitate to use torture against their enemies to gain information. American Police and the U.S. Military have tortured people to gain information and evidence even though it is technically illegal. This shows that America is willing to break laws to gain information. Cruel and unusual punishment is banned in many countries including the United States of America (Torture is a Just Means for Preventing Terrorism). The Geneva Conventions ban the use of violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment, and torture (Torture is a Just Means for Preventing Terrorism). The United Convention Against Torture bans torture of all civilians, combatants, prisoners of war and terrorists (Torture is a Just Means for Preventing Terrorism). The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 5 states,” No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Torture is a Just...
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...THE HURT LOCKER REVIEW THE HURT LOCKER tells the story of Staff Sgt. William James (Jeremy Renner), Sgt. J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) who are members of a bomb-disposal unit posted in Iraq. Amidst violent conflict these men are pitted against deadly bombs that only James seems to meet with reckless abandon. His team attempts to cope with this ‘wild man’ while trying to keep themselves safe and dealing with their own personal issues. Kathryn Bigelow gives us a movie that is both forceful and frank. Packed to the gills with action and suspense Kathryn and screenwriter Mark Boal give us a unique look at the lives of soldiers at war. It is no small wonder that the movie has won 6 Academy Awards on top of being nominated for 3 more. Jeremy Renner, Anthony Mackie and Brian Geraghty work so well together that it’s almost impossible to imagine that this is all a performance. Jeremy plays the cocky team leader whose sole focus is the job at hand, Anthony plays the responsible second in command whose stringent adherence to protocol clashes with his leader’s daredevil attitude and finally Brian plays the damaged but good-natured soldier whose at odds with himself. The true genius of this film, however, is two-fold. Firstly, the beautiful cinematography of Barry Ackroyd doesn’t just impress, it enthralls and immerses. We are no longer observers of this daring team, we are part of it. The handheld shots, the cutaways of rubbish strewn...
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...right out of the gate was to understand the objective, initiate debate and set an obtainable suspense for completion. I initiated the debate on the first day by proposing we start the discussion as soon as possible and set a deadline of Friday at 5:00pm to conclude debate. I also laid out several pros to enhanced interrogation such as the successful interrogations of Khalid Sheik Mohammad, the ticking time bomb situation and why terrorists deserve it. I also included the evil they do and would do, and made comparisons to how the terrorist’s treat their prisoners. (Messerli, 2012). The team members who responded right away concurred with the Friday deadline, and we began to comment on the five pros identified. Key Points and Supporting Arguments From the main pros discussed, our team primarily focused on three points. First, everyone agreed that just asking the terrorists nicely won’t work. In addition, enhanced interrogation is justified if it will stop another terrorist attack and/or save the lives of Americans; especially if it was a ticking time bomb scenario. Second, our team felt that in these cases we are dealing with pure evil; given the opportunity, these terrorists would kill every American without mercy. So in other words, we are not interrogating to punish an enemy of the state or political prisoner or to control the population through fear; we do it to the worst of the worst to save lives. Third, our team agreed that a little bit...
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...Question such as “Is torture ever justified in effort to prevent massive harm or the lost of lives?” For me, I do think that torture is justified. I clearly know that torturing is not good and it violate human rights and human dignity. However, I still think torture give a lot of benefit to leaders during their time in need. The reason why I think torture is justified is because torturing people do sometimes bring out good result during the interrogation. Not only do I believe in torture is needed in some situation, but the study also proof that torture bring out positive outcome such as prevent death and suffering on massive scare. Base on the I’ve heard from some people, especially those who’ve been in war that Even when their soldier caught...
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...Written over a decade ago, Silverglate’s piece was the essay that remained the most accurate and culturally relevant through the years. The central point of Dershowitz’s essay forms around the idea that torture is an inevitable evil, so there should be a legal process for its use. Given his legal background, it comes as no surprise to see arguments based on a normative theory. Normative theory is basically a view of the world on how things “ought to be”, in a save the world the world from a ticking time bomb scenario. Suggesting that a legal proceeding to authorize torture would diminish its practice. The sole purpose of “Torture Warrants?” was to debunk Dershowitz’s article. Silverglate effectively produced examples of the legal ramification associated with the notion. Silverglate who is also opposed to these techniques, quotes a lot of Dershowitz’s “ought to be” material. Using logically thought out responses as the ammunition for his argument, Silverglate’s thesis mocks the ‘ticking time bomb scenario”, which was used in Dershowitz work. Overall, Silverglates argument proved to be the most logical. His argument was simple, and the evidence was overwhelmingly supportive. Remaining evident to this day, over ten years later, and the issue of the argument has not changed. The more things change, the more they stay the same. ...
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...There are times when everyone has felt uncomfortable or embarrassed. For example, meeting new people, giving a speech, or trying something that you're not used to with in front of people can make anyone nervous. This is all normal but with a disorder called social anxiety, the intensity of these s symptoms are much higher and can lead to a big amount of impact on a persons life. People with anxiety disorders aren’t the only people who experience anxiety; in fact, everyone feels it everyday, they just don’t know it. Anxiety is what you feel before a big game or an important test. It’s the source of excitement, like butterflies in your stomach. It’s what can prepare you for a big event; it’s the rush you feel. Depending on the type of person you are, it can be your best friend or worst enemy. People with anxiety disorders get this rush, but deal with it differently. Their mind and body turn this normally helpful emotion into a feeling of helplessness, and don’t allow themselves to get motivated. When you feel it coming, you get a rush of a million things at once. Thoughts taking over, nerves, shaking, becoming dizzy, overwhelmed, and the list goes on. People with this tend to become very concerned that they will do something embarrassing or humiliating, or that others will think badly of them. Their thoughts won’t shut off. They’re constantly running, making them worry and worry. It’s very hard to overcome because there aren’t many solutions. It’s a ticking time bomb, you never...
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...like a bomb through a window, and it ticks.” This play from the very distant past can comment on the future because it is still relevant to the problems communities have today, but with a lot less hanging. The problems that communities might have include, civil unrest, jealousy, unwanted officials, crooked cops, citizens that don’t abide by the laws that were put in place by the mayor or state legislature, and the problems keep adding up as time goes by. The Crucible is still relevant because it can still relate to most of the problems that communities have today. The way that a play, that is set in a time such as this, can resonate with an audience, without current events, is that it can draw them in and make them feel like they are in the past, in the time that the play was set in, and feel like the problems in the play are current....
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