I believe that the use of torture in a post September 11 world is ethically more permissible in the eyes of most U.S. citizens. The attacks created a great worry among all the citizens and they wanted to do whatever it took to secure the national borders from all terrorism. Stereotypes abounded and many started to wonder about any foreigners, even those that were already in the country.
The systematic implementation of torture in the wake of the 9/11/01 attack has become more apparent with the surfacing of documents since the Abu Ghraib scandal broke in April of 2004. The abuse of U.S. prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison was only the first case of 9/11-predicated torture that became widely publicized. In fact the U.S. government is implicated in crimes against detainees in many locations across the world. In 2006 Army and Navy investigators concluded that at least 26 prisoners in custody in Iran and Iraq were likely murdered by their captors, where only one of the deaths was in the Abu Ghraib prison. In 2005 it was reported that 108 U.S. detainees had died in custody, based on information provided by U.S. military officials. The most publicized case of torture at the hands of U.S. officials since 9/11/01 has been the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, in which Iraqi prisoners were reportedly subjected to abuse, torture, sodomy, and homicide by U.S. military personnel. In Kiobel v Royal Dutch Petroleum, the oil giant is accused of being an accomplice to torture, extrajudicial executions and crimes against humanity by the Nigerian government between 1992 and 1995 in the Niger Delta region. Shell is alleged have helped the former dictatorship arrest and torture 12 members of the Ogoni tribe, who had sought to peacefully disrupt oil development because of its health and environmental impacts. Esther Kiobel, now a US citizen, brought her claims on behalf of her late husband, Barinem Kiobel, who was executed in a sham trial in which Shell is alleged to have played a key role. Esther claimed that Shell tortured her husband into confessing to a murder which didn’t even happen. This kind of torture is not tolerated by the U.S. and the Supreme Court should make a quick decision. Torture in the upcoming election will not have much publicity in my opinion but I believe it should be brought up. The use of torture can be a key player in protecting our national borders and should be allowed by our government. Terrorist torture is a very important topic and I found that Obama doesn’t support torture when interrogating terror suspects and Mitt Romney believes it is ok in order to save many lives. I think that terror should be used when interrogating accused terrorists because the rights of an accused aren’t the same as another human. During the interrogation, we should be able to find out when others may strike in order to save thousands of lives.