Has anyone ever heard of something extremely dangerous and life-threatening and thought that, “Hey, let’s try that!”? Would they still want to try it if they knew it was a form of torment? Christopher Hitchens decides to endure a torture technique called “waterboarding” to learn more of its use among Americans. In Hitchens’s Believe Me, It’s Torture, he describes his experience enduring “waterboarding” to discourage use of it in America with use of the persuasive techniques ethos and logos.
As any curious American would, Hitchens decided the best way to learn about “waterboarding” was to experience it. Waterboarding is a form of torture used during interrogations in which a person is strapped down onto a sloping board with a cloth covering
…show more content…
Not only did Hitchens attempt waterboarding once, but he tried it again in order to better resist and to better understand the tactic. In the first attempt, Hitchens was caught off guard and panicked, which caused him to use the prearranged signal to end the torture. He was disappointed in the amount of time he lasted. Because of this and what he read on Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (he was able to last two minutes on the table) he decided to attempt it again. During the second experience, his time of the board lasted longer. Because of this, he felt pressure on his solar plexus, which he learned was someone testing to see if he was timing his breathing or someway found a cheat. One can infer that he was able to better his first time …show more content…
Malcolm Nance, has personally experienced waterboarding and uses ethos and logos to emphasize his experiences. From his experiences in the military, Nance, who was at the Pentagon during the 9/11 attacks and has been part of the SERE program since 1997, has come to several conclusions as to why waterboarding is ethically and logically wrong. His reasons include that, logically, waterboarding is a form of torture used intentionally. They allow use of it on their enemies; but despite it being controversial, America’s judicial system has persecuted outsiders who have used it against Americans. It is also used as an unethical way to obtain information from enemy prisoners of wars, but that does not always guarantee that all of the information is of any use and or reliable. Finally, the use of waterboarding does not guarantee that they will receive any information on whom the waterboarding is being used and that may not be helpful in those in charge are in a time constraint. Nance highly doubts that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was able to last two minutes enduring waterboarding
In the article “The Case for Torture”, Michael Levin argues that the use of torture as a way to save lives is justifiable and necessary. Levin draws a series of cases where torture might be acceptable so as to set certain precedent for the justification of torture in more realistic cases. HoweverLevin illustrates three cases where torture might be justifiable.he describes a terrorist keeping city of millions hostage to an atomic bomb, the second, a terrorist who has implanted remote bombs on a plane and the third, a terrorist who has kidnapped a baby. torture and its consequences have been recorded in countries around of world over a vast span of time, and for a variety of reasons. Levin makes no such attempt to expand his article beyond
The Rolling Stone article “Slow Motion Torture,” written by Jeff Teitz, is a perplexing article that dives into the various psychological affects that solitary confinement can have on an individual’s mind. The arrangement of the article itself was hard to follow at times. It was all over the place, talking about multiple things at once that did not correlate with the topic of the paragraph. But, for the most part, I was able to understand it.
Mahatma Gandhi, the preeminent leader of the Indian independence movement states “You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind.” This is important because torture is brutal on the body and mind. The article “Torture’s Terrible Toll” by John McCain is more convincing then the article “The Case for Torture” by Michael Levin because McCain provides more logical reasoning, he adds his own personal experience of being a captured prisoner during the Vietnam War, and he creates an emotional bond with people around the world. Through more logical reasoning McCain Argument is more valid than Levin.
In the case that there is sufficient evidence of guilt as well as coconspirators, torture may be allowed but none that is inhumane. Document B: The Massachusetts Body of Liberties allows torture in the case that somebody is deemed guilty by clear evidence. In the Laws of Connecticut Colony, no torture is allowed whatsoever. Document C: Mather advises judges to continue the regular American method of obtaining confessions and to abstain from torture, for confusion is more likely to get a confession than torture. Document D: Henry warns that Congress will attempt to extort confession by practicing torture.
Hal Marcivitz calls attention to the use of torture over the years when he states, "Throughout human history, tortures have inflicted excruciating agony on their victims" (5). This relates to 1984, by relating to O'Brien and how he uses torture to change the mindset of his victims including Winston and Julia. Over many, many years, different types of "tortures employed only the crudest physical methods on their victims" and gave torture its definition "while involving every possible kind of pain that could be inflicted apo the human body" (Innes 43). Such terrifying torture methods are used as a brainwashing tactic by O'Brien to Winston and many of his other
“Authorizing torture is a bad and dangerous idea that can easily be made to sound plausible.” This is a shockingly true statement. Heymann’s purpose in writing this article is to persuade readers to agree with him that torture should not be authorized. Heymann uses the persuasive appeal of pathos primarily in this article to convince his readers to agree with him. Although that is not to say he did not use other forms of persuasive appeal, heymann also used Logos and Ethos, just not as strongly as Pathos.
Over one-fourth of the cases overturned each year are due to a forced confession (Innocence Project). Yet, forced confessions due to intense interrogation are prevalent throughout the investigative community. Interrogation is not only used in investigations today but was also used during The Salem Witch Trials which can be seen in Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible. Due to the use of interrogation and the presence of false confessions in investigations, it is necessary to examine the following research question: To what degree are the Salem Witch Trials affected by forced confessions?
In medieval times, torture was used to punish criminals, deter crime, and gather information. There were many different types of tortures, most of which were brutal and painful. At the time, torture was deemed necessary to maintain order. Laws were harsh and torture was severe, but effective form of punishment. Despite its effectiveness, torture was often an unfair and extremely cruel punishment, and should have been eliminated in all forms.
"Beyond Waterboarding: The Science Of Interrogation." New Scientist 205.2750 (2010): 40-43. Academic Search Complete. Web. 10 Feb. 2016.
Applebaum has plenty of evidence to back up her claim that physical torture is not effective, and there are many other ways to obtain information. While the fear-encouraging and questioning elements are potent to many who are afraid of terror committed against them, but when the overwhelming sentiment of Levin’s argument is being compared to the logic and ethical points of Applebaum it is clear to see the superiority of her argument. Although Levin would advocate for physical torture in extreme situations, one must expect extreme consequences. Physical torture is rarely effective, violates rights, and damages a whole nation’s credibility. This is why physical torture should not be
Throughout this article the author touches on the “enhanced interrogation” form called waterboarding. Waterboarding is when a victim is placed on a board that is slightly raised higher at the victim’s feet than it is at the victims head and involves towels being placed on a victim’s face and large amounts of water to be poured on the face of a victim in order to make breathing extremely difficult. The author states in the article, “You may have heard by now the official lie about this treatment which is that it “simulates” drowning, this is not the case you feel like you are drowning because you are actually drowning.” (Hitchens 9) This excerpt from the article stands to illustrate to the reader just how barbaric waterboarding is being as though it involves drowning someone in order to get information for personal gratification.
Sometimes Enhanced Interrogation does not even work because detainee can give misleading information so that they will stop the pain. Sometimes our government detain an innocent person and then
In Michael Levin’s “The Case for Torture”, he uses many cases of emotional appeal to persuade the reader that torture is necessary in extreme cases. There are many terms/statements that stick with the reader throughout the essay so that they will have more attachment to what is being said. Levin is particularly leaning to an audience based in the United States because he uses an allusion to reference an event that happened within the states and will better relate to the people that were impacted by it. The emotional appeals used in this essay are used for the purpose of persuading the reader to agree that in extreme instances torture is necessary and the United States should begin considering it as a tactic for future cases of extremity. One major eye catching factor of this essay is the repetitive use of words that imply certain stigmas.
In Michael Levin's The Case for Torture, Levin provides an argument in which he discusses the significance of inflicting torture to perpetrators as a way of punishment. In his argument, he dispenses a critical approach into what he believes justifies torture in certain situations. Torture is assumed to be banned in our culture and the thought of it takes society back to the brutal ages. He argues that societies that are enlightened reject torture and the authoritative figure that engage in its application risk the displeasure of the United States. In his perspective, he provides instances in which wrongdoers put the lives of innocent people at risk and discusses the aspect of death and idealism.
I believe one of the cons to waterboarding is that, even though this technique makes the receiver eventually give up information, eventually, all the pain and psychological torment that they went through can make that person (Remy Mauduit 2014) unstable, unreliable and angry for any other future interrogations for information if the procedure is done to them in a way that goes beyond just getting information. It may be possible for these detainees to completely shut down after the first time getting water boarded for any future interrogations about any terrorist activity or threats because they now are only