Essay On Ethical Issues In Torture

Loss of moral authority on the world stage is a grave consequence of torture. If the United States is seen as immoral, then how can it be seen as a leader? Throughout its history, the United States has been looked upon as a world leader, leading on issues such as human rights. In fact, the US has been a defender of the rights of people all over the world, often going to war or using its military to protect the rights and human dignity of people all over the globe. It was often held up as the beacon of freedom and human decency. But the torture issue during the Bush Administration began to change all of that. In recent years, torture and other issues have led countries such as China to question its moral authority. “Every year, the United States studies and presents reports on human rights practices in more than 190 countries around the world. In the 2010 Human …show more content…
“HRW says Bush and his senior officials are open to prosecution under the 1996 War Crimes Act as well as for criminal conspiracy under federal law” (McGreal). The report from the group stated that "there is enough strong evidence from the information made public over the past five years to not only suggest these officials authorised and oversaw widespread and serious violations of US and international law, but that they failed to act to stop mistreatment, or punish those responsible after they became aware of serious abuses”(McGreal). The recent comments from President Trump could put the country back on the slippery slope of once again losing its reputation and moral high ground by reconstituting its torture program, and erasing all of the good work former President Obama did in his attempt to restore at least some of the country’s stature and influence. His comments also open up the possibility that in the event of future conflicts, other countries or terrorist organizations will use our lack of moral authority against us and we could find our service members and military on the opposite end of