Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
The Daily Cardinal Est. 1892
Thursday, March 28, 2024

Americans should reconsider using torture

On the current campaign trail, many candidates have been extremely outspoken over a number of controversial topics. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Donald Trump are no exception to this, as both of them are outspoken about topics such as abortion or immigration. Additionally, Cruz and Trump are extremely vocal about the topic of torture and their desire to reimplement it as a way of gathering information.

According to a Vox article published Feb. 10, Cruz stated: “when it comes to keeping this country safe, the commander in chief has inherent constitutional authority to keep this country safe … you can rest assured that as commander in chief, I would use whatever enhanced interrogation methods we could to keep this country safe.”

But is torture really a justified way to protect our nation? Would it really even help protect us? Are there any ends that can make these means acceptable? The dangers and risks of torture should not be forgotten, nor the fact that this abusive practice often results in nothing more than human suffering.

The fact that torture is such a hot topic on the campaign trail is something that reflects American public opinion. According to a Feb. 9 report from the the Pew Research Center Report, 58 percent of the U.S. population considers torture as a justifiable practice. This is a number that overwhelms the global median of 40 percent. The troubling thing in all of this, despite the controversy in debate, is that the U.S. has continued to use torture in its involvements in the Middle East, a practice that rapidly increased in frequency since the 9/11 attacks.

The 1984 U.N. Convention Against Torture defines torture as: Any act that consists of the intentional infliction of “severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental,” involving a public official and carried out for a specific purpose.

Herbert C. Kelman, a Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Emeritus, at Harvard University summarized three points of torture use in a 2005 article: “First, the essential justification of torture is the protection of the State against internal and external threats to its security. Second, the agents of torture are defined as a professional force with a significant role in protecting the State against internal threats to its security. Third, the targets of torture are defined as enemies of the State who constitute serious threats to the State’s security and survival.”

Despite the justifications of preserving state security, violent torture methods have proven to be ineffective. This brings up questions about why Cruz and Trump are pushing to use it more often. Torture seems to be a scapegoat action in the face of crisis, seeing that it provides no solution to the inherent problem.

The widespread misconception of torture is that its purpose is to exploit important facts from people who are dangerous to the state. Personally, I see torture as a mechanism of extracting the desired facts about a matter. The torturer often obtains certain facts through torture that are simply not true. They are told what they want to hear to make the pain stop.

The ineffectiveness of torture is made evident in a Senate report from 2014. The report was focused on CIA torture and whether it was effective or not. It states that there were numerous incidents of torture that were very ineffective.

An example of this ineffectiveness is the case of Hassan Ghul, a detainee who was thought to be Osama bin Laden’s closest courier.

It is said that he cooperated with the officials by offering an explicit description of the person, but the CIA decided to torture him with sleep deprivation, stress positions and hallucinations. With torture, the CIA found out that he gave “no actionable threat information,” making the session insignificant.

I completely understand that both states and people make serious mistakes when faced with great danger. I am a strong supporter of state security, and could never overlook its importance. I am a strong believer that the practices involved in state security need to be as strong as possible, but torture is not one of them.

Enjoy what you're reading? Get content from The Daily Cardinal delivered to your inbox

Hae Rin is a sophomore majoring in history. How do you feel about the United States’ use of torture? Send all comments and questions to opinion@dailycardinal.com.

Support your local paper
Donate Today
The Daily Cardinal has been covering the University and Madison community since 1892. Please consider giving today.
Comments


Powered by SNworks Solutions by The State News
All Content © 2024 The Daily Cardinal