Katana Smith
ENG 100 Assignment #3: Film-Based Argument The American Government and Military: Abuse of Power By Using Torture In Slumdog Millionaire, screenwriter Simon Beaufoy shares the story of Jamal, a boy who grew up in the slum neighborhoods of India and managed to gain a spot on the gameshow, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? Throughout the film, Jamal is shown as a person who must overcome many obstacles to survive, including an experience of torture when he provides the correct answers to too many gameshow questions. Jamal’s torture does not reveal the confession his torturers are seeking because Jamal is telling the truth. His torturers have no way of knowing that he is being honest, therefore the brutal interrogation continues. Throughout the hours of torture, no new or substantial information is gained until they realize that Jamal was telling the truth the entire time. Torture has been a controversial topic across the world and in America in particular. The government and military have been using torture as a way to gain intelligence for years. Many different cases have been documented and the outcomes have varied but most have been ineffective. More harm has been done than good. American military and government should not use torture because it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, leads to false answers and creates a global mistrust towards them. Part of the eighth amendment in the United States prohibits the state and federal governments from imposing cruel and unusual punishment. Cruel and unusual punishment is defined by Merriam-Webster as punishment that is offensive to the contemporary morality or jurisprudence (as by being degrading, inflicting unnecessary and intentional pain, or being disproportionate to the offense). I would say that torturing someone violently in order to get them to tell you what you want to hear is a form of cruel and unusual punishment. Torture is a violation of human rights. There have been numerous cases in America that involved violating the eight amendment. In the article, A Recent Supreme Court Case on the Eighth Amendment and Qualified Immunity Both Exposes and Hides the Cruelty of Prison, Sherry F. Colb says “Larry Hope, a prisoner, was working on a chain gang in Alabama and apparently became disruptive. As punishment for his "disruptive behavior," Hope was handcuffed to a metal post for seven hours with his shirt removed. He received no bathroom breaks and only one or two opportunities to drink water. In addition, guards at one point brought him some water, but ultimately poured it on the ground near his feet rather than permitting him to drink. Throughout the incident, the guards' conduct seemed primarily if not exclusively intended to torment the prisoner." This is a clear example of cruel and unusual punishment. American military and government have other options when it comes to serving punishments or finding answers. After doing some research, I found that the interrogation method is a more effective and legal way to get someone to talk. Not only is torture illegal, it’s also very ineffective when it comes to finding the answers you’re looking for. When military agents torture suspects, many times these victims provide false answers to stop the pain they feel from the torture. In the article, Torture Is a Crime, Curt Goering says “Time and again, our clients tell us that they would—and did—say anything to make the torture stop. This is true for victims subjected to physical torture as well as psychological torture. It has been proven that torture is far more likely to produce ambiguous and false, rather than clear and reliable, information.” When people are subjected to extreme pain, physically or emotionally, they go into survival mode and will say or do anything to get out of the situation they are in. In the article, The neuroscience of interrogation: Why torture doesn’t work, Carol Elliott says “Interrogators often escalate torture when they think a suspect is withholding information or lying, but there is no good evidence that interrogators are better than the rest of us at detecting lies. In fact, there is evidence that when people are trained as interrogators, they become more likely to think others are lying to them. This belief can lead to alarming errors, whereby people are tortured because their torturer wrongly believes they are lying.” As you can see, torture can be very unreliable and extremely dangerous. The longer it takes to get answers out of someone, the harsher the torture usually becomes. In some cases, people are being wrongfully tortured and can end up seriously injured. The article, Senate Intelligence Committee Study on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program, states that “The CIA failed to review its previous use of coercive interrogations decades earlier, which resulted in the conclusion, as stated to Congress in 1989, that 'inhumane physical or psychological techniques are counterproductive because they do not produce intelligence and will probably result in false answers.' The CIA also did not contact other parts of the U.S. government with interrogation expertise.” This proves that the American government has been well aware that torture is ineffective and leads to false answers for a while now, yet they haven’t stopped doing it. Torture can also waste a significant amount of time that could have been spent using more reliable methods to gain intelligence. In addition to torture victims providing false answers, torture also leads to a global mistrust of the people and/or governments that enact the torture. Many times, the people in charge of torturing the suspects are people of power. These are the people that we are supposed to trust as Americans, as they are somewhat in control of our safety. Most of them will do whatever they have to do to the victims because they are getting paid significantly for their services. In the article, Torture: Ineffective, Illegal, and Unprincipled, Steve Cohen says “If the people who are responsible for enforcing our laws—and our principles—violate those laws and principles, it fosters disrespect for all principles and laws.” The act of torture goes against our values as an American culture. The people committing these crimes are the ones that are supposed to be protecting us from things like this. In the article, Why Are People So Distrustful of Big Government?, Conor Friedersdorf says one of the main reason people distrust the government is that “The U.S. government instituted an official program of torture in secret. Its architects were never seriously investigated or charged, despite the obligation to do so under a duly ratified treaty -- and even worse, many people complicit in the torture staff the national-security state even today.” How can we trust our government if they are illegally torturing people and intentionally trying to hide it from us? The people in positions of power can basically get away with murder if this is true. No one should be allowed to use the torture method, especially not the people in charge of others. In the article, CIA director insists torture saved lives, Luke Brinker says “Responding to the release of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s executive summary on the Central Intelligence Agency’s use of torture against terrorism suspects, CIA director John Brennan on Tuesday insisted that torture saved lives... ‘Our review indicates that interrogations of detainees on whom EITs were used did produce intelligence that helped thwart attack plans, capture terrorists, and save lives,’ Brennan said in a statement. ‘The intelligence gained from the program was critical to our understanding of al-Qa’ida and continues to inform our counterterrorism efforts to this day.’” This is an example of a time when torture was believed to be an effective method. While people have many different ways of viewing torture, I am personally against it. I believe there is more evidence of torture being ineffective rather than effective. Although there have been cases where it was believed that torture was beneficial, the times where it wasn’t are much greater. Steve Cohen says, “We do not need to use brutal tactics to reduce criminal behavior. Vigilance, intelligence, skill and strategic thinking are far more effective.”. It’s not worth risking peoples’ lives and mental health if there is no guarantee that the outcome will help solve the problem. Torture is a waste of time and money when it comes to gaining intelligence. It a violation of human rights and morally wrong in general. It also violates the eighth amendment. After doing more research, I have concluded that torture is an ineffective way to find the answers you’re looking for because it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment, leads to false answers and it creates a global mistrust towards them. Works Cited Brinker, Luke. "CIA director insists torture saved lives." Salon, 9 Dec. 2014, www.salon.com/2014/12/09/cia_director_insists_torture_saved_lives/. Accessed 29 Apr. 2017. Cohen, Steve. "Torture: Ineffective, Illegal, and Unprincipled." Observer, 4 May 2009, www.observer.com/2009/05/torture-ineffective-illegal-and-unprincipled/. Accessed 22 Apr. 2017. Colb, Sherry F. "A Recent Supreme Court Case on the Eighth Amendment and Qualified Immunity Both Exposes and Hides the Cruelty of Prison" Find Law, 24 Apr. 2002, www.supreme.findlaw.com/legal-commentary/a-recent-supreme-court-case-on-the-eighth-amendment-and-qualified-immunity-both-exposes-and-hides-the-cruelty-of-prison.html. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017. Elliott, Carl. "The neuroscience of interrogation: Why torture doesn't work." News Scientist, 11 Nov. 2015, www.newscientist.com/article/mg22830471-200-torture-doesnt-work-says-science-why-are-we-still-doing-it/. Accessed 20 Apr. 2017. Friedersdorf, Conor. "Why Are People So Distrustful of Big Government?" The Atlantic, 18 June 2013, www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/06/why-are-people-so-distrustful-of-big-government/276963/. Accessed 28 Apr. 2017. Goering, Curt. "Torture Is a Crime." Huffington Post, 2017, www.huffingtonpost.com/curt-goering/torture-is-a-crime_b_9289642.html. Accessed 20 Apr. 2017. "Senate Intelligence Committee Study on CIA Detention and Interrogation Program" Feinstein Senate, www.feinstein.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/senate-intelligence-committee-study-on-cia-detention-and-interrogation-program. Accessed 26 Apr. 2017. “Slumdog Millionaire” IMDb, 25 Dec. 2008, www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/. Accessed 1 Apr. 2017.
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