Friday, May 7, 2010

Frontline: The Torture Question

Posted by at
Labels:

1 comment:

  1. Jesse BarbaMay 12, 2010 at 1:36 PM

    The atrocities of torture committed at Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib clearly reflects a misguided approach to the post 9/11 war on terror. The new means of acquiring information from suspected terrorists and insurgents has come from top-down guidance of government officials that completely disregard all codes of conduct in war. It used to be that prisoners of war were held until the end of the war was over, interrogated but never tortured, and commanders followed rules that gave the prisoners slight rights.

    The regiment of gathering intelligence at both locations demonstrates a derelict of duty to follow the statutes of the Geneva Convention. Because the actions taken were in response to attacks on American soil, the government wanted to move quickly and provide evidence to the public for support. In their haste, judgments were altered and a gray blur over what was permissible and what wasn’t clouded everyone’s perception.

    Besides the stupidity of the soldiers who photographed their inhumane treatment of the prisoners, the media became the unsung hero in this event. Had the media not broken the silence over the prison camps and interrogation tactics employed – there is no doubt that similar treatment would still be used. But then again, who is to say that now that the cameras are off these interrogations are still not happening.

    I can understand using slightly unconventional methods in an information gathering interrogation. However, there are certain actions we promised the world we would adhere to so that we not only protect our soldiers when they become POW’s, but because it the moral decision to make. Torture breeds terror, and in the fight against terrorism it only gives extremists that much more reason to wage their war against the United States.

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)