President Bush recently vetoed a bill that would ban the CIA from using torture during interrogations. Then on March 11, Congress lacked the two-thirds majority to overturn the veto.
The CIA admitted it used techniques such as water boarding, but it had stopped as of 2003. For those of you who are unaware, water boarding is an "interrogation method" where a person's face is covered with a towel or cellophane, and water is poured over it in order to make the person feel as though he/she were drowning.
Torture is shameful and unethical. This country has too many resources and too many intelligent people that it should have to resort to using torture. Georgia Parsons, UT JuniorThe president refutes the idea that the U.S. uses torture, but fails to reveal what the utilized interrogation methods are.
How can we be an advanced, evolved society if we still use torture?
When I say the word torture, nothing positive comes to mind. This country is obsessed with being politically correct and what could possibly be more heinous and politically incorrect than torture? When is it ok to devalue a human life?
Junior Georgia Parsons said, "Torture is shameful and unethical. This country has too many resources and too many intelligent people that it should have to resort to using torture."
Some believe any means necessary should be used to extract useful information from those that have it, even if that means using torture. However, as a world power, shouldn't we be setting an example for the rest of the world? If we use torture, that makes it fine and dandy for everyone else to use torture as well.
In order to gain the respect of other countries and perhaps a little self-respect, America needs to ban the use of torture. Torture equals barbarianism and savagery.
As a highly civilized nation, the United States must make strides to be torture-free.
Comments
Paul Hassell commented, on March 13, 2008 at 8:36 a.m.:
I recommend a general research into the history of the CIA. There are things our special forces and CIA must do that are not pretty. These things that our brave soldiers do allow you to sleep safely at night, wake up the next morning free of fear, and stroll off to class to write an article about how they shouldn't do what they do. I suggest a follow-up article expressing your thankfulness for the freedom you are given as a result of their sacrifice--as a result of their willingness to interrogate, kill, and protect your civil liberties.
Soooo commented, on March 13, 2008 at 9:27 a.m.:
Just because they are protecting MY civil liberties makes it OK for them to take someone else's away? And, by the way, where is this fight for civil liberties? Certainly not Iraq...
OK... commented, on March 13, 2008 at 9:31 a.m.:
1. Waterboarding is a hell of a lot less than what they do to us...like electroshock, castration and the occasional beheading.
2. It works, get over it.
3. You can't have civil liberties in Iraq when terrorists are bombing on an almost daily basis. Did Americans have freedom of speech in the early formation of the country? No.
Alice commented, on March 13, 2008 at 2:14 p.m.:
This is about human rights and a basic since of humanity, not about terrorism or the establishment of a country. How does water boarding help establish a legitimate government? I will not get over it! It is unethical and I'd rather move to Canada than pay taxes to support torture. And just because they resort to such techniques does not mean that we must also stoop to that level. Furthermore, open your hearts. These are people just like you! Bush's action only highlights the close-minded and backwards thinking that has run this country for the past 8 years. You can't scare me by throwing around the word "terrorism" every time the President's actions are called into question.
Leah commented, on March 13, 2008 at 4:10 p.m.:
It is ridiculous to think that torture is ok...for any reason. The U.S. supposedly went to Iraq to liberate it. How can liberation occur if we're using fear tactics which resemble those of the prior Iraqi regime? I say that most people that would stand by torture consider themselves as "conservative" and many even Christians. Please tell me when and where Jesus ok'd torture.
............. commented, on March 13, 2008 at 4:30 p.m.:
Everything in life cannot be accomplished by sitting down and working it out...Sometimes things have to be done that aren't pretty. If torture is the only way to get valuable information, then so be it. Yeah, it sucks and it's not completely fair but sometimes it is necessary.
Fred Duran commented, on March 13, 2008 at 9:03 p.m.:
Not sure who Georgia Parsons is but lets hope not in any decison making capacity. The veiw held by Georgia is the kind of veiw that will put your country at risk. This enemy is not human. They will recreationally kill men, women, children, infants, and anyone else they can find who disgrees with them. They would drop a WMD right in your back yard and not even look back. Whatever needs to be done should be done. The enemy isn't playing, the sooner we sort of "catch on" to this the better we will be. You could say sneaking up on an enemy is tortuous if you shoot them in the back, dropping a bomb isn't real kind either. It is a war and we best figure that our soon before our big soft heart gets our butt kicked.
Dan Ottman commented, on March 13, 2008 at 9:09 p.m.:
Not only should we not torture we should fight more fairly. This enemy doesn't have bombers and helicopters and we shouldn't use them either. We should use stun guns and not big real guns. And, we should tell them what our plans are so they will have a chance. We also need to make sure our enemy has food, a nice place to sleep, some DVDs and other recreational facitlities. To sneak around and kill them is inhumane and we have too many nice people living in merica to do that. Just kidding, ought to waterboard them before shooting them.
Linn commented, on March 13, 2008 at 9:19 p.m.:
Sometimes doing the right thing -- following the Geneva Convention -- may be difficult and require discipline, but it leads to a greater sense of integrity and pride. Thank you Ms. Stiles and Ms. Parsons for daring to speak for a better world.
mc5 commented, on March 13, 2008 at 9:36 p.m.:
to Fred Duran, who says "This enemy is not human. They will recreationally kill men, women, children, infants, and anyone else they can find who disgrees with them."
Dehumanizing your enemies (real or not) is a very effective tactic. Hitler used it to great effect with regard to Jews, Slavs, Gypsies and Gays. However, there's no historical evidence that doing so actually makes the world more livable for either side. In addition, it creates a moral paradox: They're the bad guys because they do bad things to us. We're the good guys, so it's all right for us to do the same things that make them bad. Problem: How do you tell the difference between the good guys and the bad guys, if both are behaving in the same way? The difference has to be based upon actions. If it was easy to be good, everyone would be.
Anonymouse commented, on March 22, 2008 at 4:50 p.m.:
mc5 is getting dangerously close to invoking Godwin's...
You say, "This country is obsessed with being politically correct." Is that a good thing? In most cases, I say no. Not everyone is a winner, not everyone is right. Right and wrong, good and evil, do exist. "Right" and "good" is not always what's politically correct, and in a conflict, I'd rather make the right choice than the politically correct one.
What constitutes torture varies from country to country. The United States has used exhaustion and loud music as techniques--is being kept awake and forced to listen to Metallica *really* torture? Does it even compare to beheading, electrocution, and rape?
I don't support using "any means necessary," but I don't oppose aggressive and psychologically taxing interrogation tactics.
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