Should the US Use Torture and Enhanced Interrogation Techniques in its War on Terrorism - Research Paper Example

POWs: Should the US use Torture and Enhanced Interrogation Techniques in its War on Terrorism? Outline 0 Introduction- a brief on the topic which describes the use of enhanced interrogation techniques on warfare. 2.0 Definition of the term torture and the need of harsh interrogation techniques 3.0 Increasing terrorist attacks and security problems require effective strategies 4.0 Evidences that justify the use of various interrogation techniques 5.0 Criticism against the use of interrogation techniques and its organized use 6.0 Conclusion- a shot note which wind up relevant ideas that are discussed in the body of the paper. Abstract Global terrorism creates severe problems among the nations in recent years and the need of effective prevention methods has been increased. The United States has implemented certain rage of torture and enhanced interrogation techniques in its war on terrorism. It is difficult to define the word ‘torture’. The Bush administration announced that the use of these techniques is subjected to the situation and special care will be taken to avoid the possibility of abuse. The event of September 11 and related issues has raised serious questions regarding the national security and economic stability of the nation. Therefore, implementation of various interrogation strategies is essential to maintain national security and to win the war on terrorism. Even though critics oppose the use of enhanced interrogation techniques on terrorists, maintaining the security of common people and their lives calls for the need to have such interrogations. Organized use of enhanced interrogation techniques is essential and the U.S government should use it to prevent the threat of terrorism. Introduction Terrorism and related issues pose great threat to international peace and security today. Highly organized and broad-shouldered approaches like enhanced interrogation techniques are essential for a nation to do away with terrorist attacks. Debates about the use of enhanced interrogation techniques and strategies make the topic in to a controversial issue. Torture and enhanced interrogation techniques were widely implemented by George W. Bush administration in the United States for US military intelligence and the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to take out information from persons and organizations in its War on Terrorism. Implementation of these war strategies paved the way for relevant discussions and debates among the media as well the international community. Should the US use Torture and Enhanced Interrogation Techniques in its War on Terrorism is a solid question for one to probe into. After the event of September 11, the U.S administration was forced to seek effective methods and strategies to put off the threat of global terrorism. However, authorities who advocate the use of harsh interrogation techniques never encourage severe tortures. In the age of increasing threat of global terrorism, the U.S government cannot give up its responsibility to save the lives of its civilians and prevent the harmful effects of global terrorism. The use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) and efficient communication strategies increases the need of new strategies to tackle terrorism. Even though, critics and social activists argue against the use of torture and enhanced interrogation strategies and consider them as violations of the decisions at the Geneva Convention, one can never undermine the effectiveness of employing torture and enhanced interrogation techniques in the war on terrorism. The call for and possibility of the use of various enhanced interrogation techniques is a composite question because the existing political circumstance force one to think about the positive and negative effects of torture. The CIA investigators and officials were trained in various torture and enhanced interrogation methods such as water boarding, the attention grab, attention slap, belly slap, the cold sell and long time standing for suspects. One can describe these interrogation techniques as ‘torture’ based on the degree of torment that is being practiced .However, in many cases the information gained from the captured suspects could effectively be used to save the lives of thousands of innocents. Increasing rate of global terrorism and its impacts is the major cause of the establishment of harsh interrogation techniques. The initial and permanent way to look after the community is to put off serious problems ahead of they can happen. The U.S government has adopted specific plans which include serious efforts from the whole U.S community, both private and public sector local governments and federal states to fight against terrorism. The book entitled Security and Loss Prevention: An Introduction by Philip Purpura gives relevant information about the prevention methods undertaken by the United States against global terrorism. Philip Purpura observes: “The United States will defend its people, territory, national interests and, democratic principles. Within this strategy is the adage that the best defense is a good offence” (Purpura, 2007, p. 374). As the U.S government considers National Strategy for Homeland Security is a major component of defense, it adopts different methods to prevent attacks from both regional and international terrorism. The episode of September 11 challenges the entire defense policy of the U.S government and it has also created fear and security problems among the people. For that reason, Bush government is forced to take various preventive methods. Capturing of suspected persons and the designing of enhanced interrogation techniques helped Bush administration to attain anticipated results in its military operations against Afghanistan. In this occasion one can find Tom Baldwin‘s report which was published in ‘The Times’. The article entitled US admits Iraq is terror cause notices that as per the CIA data releases in 2006, “there were 11,111 terrorist incidents last year, killing more than 14,600 non-combatants, including 8,300 in Iraq” (Baldwin, 2010). The possibility of using weapons of mass destruction (WMD) is visible in the time of U.S invasion in Iraq and Afghanistan. President George W. Bush made it clear that water boarding and other strategies can be used in emergency cases. The United States always held a strong position against terrorism and it is conscious of the security and peace of both its civilian and the international community. Thomas W. Sulcer rightly comments that “without organized opposition, the terrorist, like a wolf among sheep, could kill one or two or three may be more before police arrive” (Sulcer, 2008, p. 27). Terrorist operations against institutions such as educational institutions, hospitals, and transportation, religious places and the media create severe problems for the government as well the public. Therefore, one can find that U.S government should adopt controlled use of torture and enhanced interrogation techniques on its war on terrorism. In the initial stage of war against al-Qaeda, the military achieved considerable achievements in the process of obtaining information from the captured terrorists. There are also stories that reveal the frustration and failure of investigators in capturing information. Failure of ordinary and ostensibly human strategies led the authorities put into practice new methods for capturing information. The event of September 11 had instantaneous and overwhelming effects on the social and political life of the Americans. The September 11 attacks raised certain relevant questions about the existence of security measures and the so called system of US military intelligence. As Parry points out, “after the attacks of September 11, extraordinary rendition for the purpose of interrogation greatly increased” (Parry, 2010, p. 179). One can agree to the news about the effectiveness of harsh enhanced interrogation techniques as evidence. Former CIA agent John Kiriakou mentioned that the terrorist Abu Zubaydah was uncooperative till he was water boarded. The capability of the U.S government to elucidate confidential information is indisputably necessary to national security and prosperity. In spite of this, CIA agents and U.S military officials complain that the works of ‘black sites’ in other countries like Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq are not desirable one. Suspects from these centers were treated in different ways. Sometimes, officers from those countries have misused their official status. Here, one can comprehend that prevention of global terrorism especially the works of Islamic extremists require the use of harsh interrogation strategies. Information about weapons of mass destruction is significant. Here, the response of a single person who is captured can save the lives of thousands. On March 2008, George W. Bush expressed his disagreement to the Congress in its attempt to control CIA’s use of enhanced interrogation strategies. The President clearly emphasized that any restrictions in practicing enhanced interrogation techniques would cause danger to the national security. The use of these techniques against the terrorists who could bring out the most crucial information in the war on terror is of assistance the nation to prevent number of terrorist attacks. Advocates of the use of harsh enhanced interrogation techniques never regard this as serious torture. As Andrew Fiala comments: “Those who advocate the use of water boarding do not want to be seen as advocating torture or defending something that is immoral and so they claim it is not torture” (Fiala, 2010, p. 132). If the situation requires, investigators and military officials can adopt various interrogation strategies as a part of their responsibility. Even though, enhanced interrogation techniques ensure the security, it raises relevant questions about the existence of human rights. Enhanced interrogation techniques often turn out to be torturing which promote mental or physical pain and its harmful results negatively affect the suspects. Social activists and critics oppose the use of these inhuman war strategies. Nathaniel Williams observes that water boarding is “a type of simulated drowning where the subjects gag reflex is involuntarily stimulated to create feelings of intense panic” (Williams, 2011). Critics who oppose the use of harsh interrogation techniques argue that implementation of inhuman interrogation strategies violates the norms of Geneva Convention. The book entitled Issues in Terrorism and Homeland Security: Selections From CQ Researcher observes how critics and Military lawyers regard the US’ anti-terrorist measures as violating the laws of international warfare (CQ Researcher, 2010, p. xiii). Here, it is significant that abusing of harsh interrogation techniques create problems of human right violations. However, the assassination of Al-Qaeda leaders including Osama Bin Laden and the results of other military operations against terrorism justify the use of enhanced interrogation strategies against terrorism. A monitoring team can control or evaluate the implementation of these strategies in battlefield. So it is obvious that controlled use of harsh interrogation techniques ensures positive results in the United States’ war on terrorism. Conclusions In conclusion, it evident that adopting effective anti-terrorist enhanced interrogation techniques is essential for a nation like United States to prevent global terrorism and ensure security. Existing political circumstances and increasing rate of global terrorism force the U.S government to take primary action to prevent the attacks from both regional as well international terrorists. Bush administration has successfully implemented both torture and other enhanced interrogation techniques in the nation’s fight against terrorism. One cannot ignore the chances of these provisions being abused but the protection of the lives of common people is equally relevant. The event of September 11 and related issues underline the need of effective counter-terrorist strategies for facilitating national defense programs. References Baldwin, Tom. (2010). US admits Iraq is terror cause. The Times, April 29, 2006. Retrieved 4 July 2011 from Times Newspapers Ltd: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article711133.ece CQ Researcher. (2010). Issues in Terrorism and Homeland Security: Selections From CQ Researcher. 2nd Annotated ed: SAGE. Fiala, Andrew. (2010). Public War, Private Conscience: The Ethics of Political Violence. Continuum International Publishing Group. Parry, John T. (2010). Understanding Torture: Law, Violence, and Political Identity. University of Michigan Press. Purpura, Philip. (2007). Security and Loss Prevention: An Introduction. 5th Illustrated ed: Butterworth-Heinemann. Sulcer, Thomas W. (2008). Common Sense II: How to Prevent the Three Types of Terrorism. Thomas W. Sulcer. Williams, Nathaniel. (2011). The CIAs Terrorist Interrogation Methods. Demand Media, Inc. Retrieved 4 July 2011 from: http://www.ehow.com/info_8556244_cias-terrorist-interrogation-methods.html Read More