The Benefits of Torture

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Imagine awaking in the morning, going downstairs and preparing the morning meal. While enjoying the sunshine through the kitchen window along with a chai tea latte, the news on the television suddenly changes from the mundane to chaotic confusion. Disaster has struck! The implausible has just happened and the nation is in chaos. This disaster could happen at any moment and at any point across the globe. If the only method of prevention to this traumatic event is by the skilled technique of information extraction known as torture, would it not be the government’s obligation to the people to ensure this method of prevention was exercised? When considering the threat from extremists, the United States government must allow for the use of unorthodox interrogation methods, such as torture, when lives are on the line and time is of the essence.
A widely popular argument against torture methods in the United States deals with the assumption that terrorists, or any form of enemy combatant that would wield terrorist style attacks, look upon how we as a nation employ torture techniques and attempt to cite it against us while claiming Americans are hypocrites against their own moral standards. They use this technique to then aid and assist them in recruiting newer soldiers or terrorists to their cause against America. This recruitment-tool theory has become something of a mantra in our recent history, including from the President himself. Moreover, as per the norm, it excuses the violent actions of the extremists or terrorists and blames America for the evil that others have done. Terrorists do not need America’s perceived use of torture to hate America. As Richard Cheney asserts in a speech he delivered in July of 2009:
“As a practical ...

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...versity of New York Press, 2007. Print.
Brecher, B. Torture and the Ticking Bomb. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, 2007. Print.
Cheney, Richard. “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques: Protecting this Country”. Vital Speeches of the day. July 2009: 297-302. Print.
Dershowitz, Allen. Why Terrorism works: Understanding the Threat, Responding to the Challenge. R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co., Inc.: USA, 2002. Print.
Holy Bible. New King James Version. Thomas Nelson: Nashville, 1982. Print.
Merriam-Webster online Dictionary. Merriam-webster.com. n.d. Web.
Posner, Richard. “The Best Offense.” Newrepublic.com. The New Republic. Web. September 2002.
Reuter, Dean and John Yoo. Confronting Terror: 9/11 and the future of American National Security. New York: Encounter Books, 2011. Print.
Wisnewski, Jeremy. Understanding Torture. Cheshire: Edingburgh University Press, 2010. Print.

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