Presented as “the story of history’s greatest manhunt for the world’s most dangerous man” (Mayer), Zero Dark Thirty is the dramatization of the search for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Centering on the work of Maya Lambert, a Central Intelligence Agency officer, the film has raised controversy due to its historical inaccuracy in depicting torture. The film justifies torture by portraying that enhanced interrogation techniques provided key information in the hunt for Osama bin Laden. In the film, Maya Lambert locates Osama bin Laden by following a lead from a tortured detainee. However, the information that led to the killing of the al-Qaeda leader was the result of tireless research and deductive…
“We tortured some folks.” Barack Obama, President of the United States, said in response to the release of the CIA torture report when he addressed post-9/11 America. Senator Dianne Feinstein accused the CIA of spying on the Senate’s intelligence committee. John Brennan, director of the CIA, denied that accusation. However, an investigation brought forth the truth; the CIA had penetrated a computer network used by the Senate Intelligence Committee and found that the Senate was preparing a report…
In the article, Report: CIA’s enhanced interrogation techniques “brutal” and “ineffective” by Justin Scuiletti says that the enhanced interrogation techniques implemented by the CIA are not that effective with the detainees. The Attorney General John Ashcroft approved verbally the methods used as enhanced interrogation techniques on July 24, 2002. A report released by the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday announced the CIA’s use of several interrogation methods. In the report there were in…
The first problem is that it does not satisfy Kant’s first version of a categorical imperative, the Principle of Universality, which states that one should always act as if their actions will become universal law. People would not appreciate other countries using those techniques on United States’ citizens. In fact, there have been situations of a similar nature in which Americans spoke negatively on the treatment of their fellow citizens. The second problem is that the chosen course of…
Imagine that someone has buried your family alive. You have the suspect in custody, but the only way to get the location of your family and save them, is if you torture the suspect. What do you do? By not torturing the suspect, your family dies, but is torture justified? I believe that in extreme circumstances torture is justifiable, when the lives of innocents outweigh the comfort of the guilty. In recent years torture has become a highly debated topic. After 9/11, President Bush authorized the…
torture or also known as enhanced interrogation. As we can see from this information the use of torture has saved countless numbers of lives and he prevented future atrocities in the US. This is one of many reasons that torture should be justified. Citizens believe that torture save innocent lives but that is not always the case. Rabbi Brad Hirschfield said torture has more goals then finding the location of the bomb. He goes onto say that torture is being used for the wrong intention. This is…
Torture is a commonly debated subject, some believing it is an appropriate means of receiving wanted information, while others believe it to be unjust and a completely cruel idea. Torture is not only severely damaging to the the prisoner, it is also extremely detrimental to the perpetrator as well. According to CNN’s report on the investigation into the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence 's report on the CIA and its detention and interrogation program, of 119 detainees captured between…
The issue of whether or not torture is an effective and appropriate means of extracting information from subjects has been pondered for centuries. More so than ever before, the interrogation tactics used by the CIA after September 11, 2001 have been the subject of intense scrutiny. In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on 9/11, the CIA ramped up its efforts to acquire human intelligence information deemed vital to United States national security. The compelling need to acquire information…
“Tick, tick, tick”. A bomb has been planted in a civilian building, and a mastermind terrorist has been captured. This, a very real scenario, is one that often threatens our government. So the main debate is what the government should do with the terrorist. Should our government use torture or enhanced interrogation as a way to save lives? The answer is yes, we should! Many view torture as an inhumane tactic and believe that torture should be eradicated from all governments. There are others,…
While just about everyone can agree that torture is morally reprehensible, the question arises as to whether or not there is justified use of torture, and if so, how to institute rules and regulations for its permissible use. With the war on terror, America 's use of torture and "advanced interrogation techniques" has become a prominent issue both in domestic and international forums, and a heated debate has ensued as to whether or not torture is justified as a tool in counter-terrorism efforts.…