Ethical Techniques In Hard Measures
1616 Words
7 Pages
Former FBI agent Jose A. Rodriguez, Jr. served undercover as an officer of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) for twenty-one years. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 on the U.S. by Al Qaeda, Rodrigues was assigned to the CIA’s Counterterrorist Center where he was then responsible for developing and implementing methods for capturing terrorists and collecting their intelligence. In his New York Times Bestseller, Hard Measures, Rodriguez discusses the controversial interrogation techniques used by the CIA on detainees suspected to be involved with the 9/11 events and retain information on future attacks on the U.S. In this paper, I will express my views and opinions of these bizarre tactics carried out by Rodriguez and
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According to John Mill’s Consequentialist Utilitarianism Theory, “the moral worth of actions is to be judged in terms of the consequences of those actions.” (Belshaw and Johnstone, 2015, p.43) If we apply his theory to the CIA’s actions following the 9/11 attacks, because the detainee participated in an act against this nation, he had to suffer the consequence. The actions taken by the CIA are considered ethical under this theory because it was a case of counter-terrorism, not terrorism …show more content…
Kantian Ethical Philosophy states that “we should never act in such a way that we treat Humanity, whether in ourselves or in others, as a means only but always as an end itself.” (Belshaw and Johnstone, 2015, p.33) These actions would be considered morally wrong as defined by this theory. As an example, if an American was captured by another country and this country used what they considered to be “enhanced interrogation techniques”, the country would be in a uproar. We will not be willing to accept that another country captured one of our own and is now holding him/her captive. According to Kant, one should always act as if their actions will become universal law. We cannot do something onto someone else, yet become upset when it is done onto us. If the entire world captured a member of a county every time an attack happened and used the “enhanced interrogation techniques” making it a “universal law” the world would be at constant war. To other nations, even our own, these acts of the CIA were seen as cruel and
According to John Mill’s Consequentialist Utilitarianism Theory, “the moral worth of actions is to be judged in terms of the consequences of those actions.” (Belshaw and Johnstone, 2015, p.43) If we apply his theory to the CIA’s actions following the 9/11 attacks, because the detainee participated in an act against this nation, he had to suffer the consequence. The actions taken by the CIA are considered ethical under this theory because it was a case of counter-terrorism, not terrorism …show more content…
Kantian Ethical Philosophy states that “we should never act in such a way that we treat Humanity, whether in ourselves or in others, as a means only but always as an end itself.” (Belshaw and Johnstone, 2015, p.33) These actions would be considered morally wrong as defined by this theory. As an example, if an American was captured by another country and this country used what they considered to be “enhanced interrogation techniques”, the country would be in a uproar. We will not be willing to accept that another country captured one of our own and is now holding him/her captive. According to Kant, one should always act as if their actions will become universal law. We cannot do something onto someone else, yet become upset when it is done onto us. If the entire world captured a member of a county every time an attack happened and used the “enhanced interrogation techniques” making it a “universal law” the world would be at constant war. To other nations, even our own, these acts of the CIA were seen as cruel and