A Bill to Legalize Torture by the U.S. Military and CIA
Respectfully Submitted to
the Committee on Foreign Affairs
Sid Sophomore
October 7, 2009
Bill 108
A Bill to Legalize Torture by the U.S. Military and CIA
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21 / Be It Enacted by the Student Congress assembled that:
Article I: Persons who have relationships to membership in violent gangs or groups of people should be allowed to be tortured for evidence to protect others.
Section 1: To perform such an act, the person performing the torture must be acting mainly to protect United States citizens on foreign soil and in our homeland. They must have a written document stating why they are performing these actions and why torture is necessary to acquire information from the person of interest.
Section 2: Additionally, the person performing the investigation must try all other methods of interrogation before the torture occurs. Only the types of torture approved by the committee on foreign affairs may be used.
Article II: “Relationships to membership in violent gangs or groups of people” refers to people with a direct relationship, for example family members or close friends, to the people doing the violent crimes. “Person of interest” refers to someone that may be involved with the crime and is under investigation.
Article III: This act will become effective as of January 1, 2010.
Article IV: The heads of the CIA and of the U.S. Military will oversee the enforcement of this bill, and additional enforcement will be by the members of the CIA and the U.S. Military.
Article V: All other laws created that conflict with this law at all levels of government are herby declared null and void.
Respectfully Submitted to the
Committee on Foreign Affairs
Sid Sophomore
Sid Sophomore
Barrington High School
A Bill to Legalize Torture by the U.S. Military and CIA
Pro:1. Timely information is needed to break up cells, capture wanted terrorists, and prevent thousands or millions of deaths; this information can be obtained in a more timely manner by administering torture.
2. These specific terrorists deserve a little extra punishment for the death and misery they've caused.
3. Anything we do to our captives will still be nothing compared to what they do to our soldiers when captured.
4. We are not killing their captives we are just interrogating with painful methods and getting information out of them.
5. The terrorist who take our military personnel captive will not treat them differently depending on how we treat their captives because they just don’t care. / Con:
1. 1. Terrorists might choose death over capture more frequently, possibly costing lives and eliminating a potential information source.
2. Stated in the Geneva convention… You treat our POWs humanely, and we'll treat your POWs humanely.
3. What is increasingly apparent from the evidence coming out of Guantanamo Bay and other sites is the dehumanization of the victims who are tortured.…leaving them physically and mentally hurt.
4 We become virtually identical to the extremist religious terrorists. We are copying them. Even the techniques of torture adopted by the US are based on techniques used by our enemies.
5. Torture gets rid of national honor and what the United States stands for.
Arguments and Evidence-Pro
Pro Argument #1: The terrorist who take our military personnel captive will not treat them differently depending on how we treat their captives because they just don’t care.
Evidence: “Again, Al Qaeda will never be influenced by international sensibilities or open to moral suasion”.
Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/51200
Pro Argument #2: Timely information is needed to break up cells, capture wanted terrorists, and prevent thousands or millions of deaths; this information can be obtained in a more timely manner by administering torture.
Evidence: “This has given credence to the myth of the "ticking bomb" that has influenced so much of US policy in responding to terrorism. In this scenario, there is a bomb waiting to go off and a prisoner who knows – or whom we imagine knows – the whereabouts of the bomb. The damage caused by the bomb could be immense and terrifying. The torture of the prisoner is justified because it elicits the whereabouts of the bomb and allows it to be detonated harmlessly. The torturer – and those who order it – is affirmed in his role of saviour. Justice and revenge and cultural cleansing are served at the same time.”
Source: http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/47109,news,torturing-terrorists-is-bad-for-your-health-coline-covington
Pro Argument #3: Anything we do to our captives will still be nothing compared to what they do to our soldiers when captured.
Evidence: “In one such raid, several civilians, including a child, were found in the midst of torture, which included whippings, beatings with cables, and skin incineration with blowtorches.”
Source:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/439225/alqaeda_torture_vs_cia_interrogation_pg2.html?cat=9
Pro Argument #4: We are not killing their captives we are just interrogating with painful methods and getting information out of them.
Evidence: “The tactic, which is no doubt uncomfortable but cannot quite be regarded as torture, is among many of those that have been utilized to make an interrogated individual uncomfortable enough to talk. For all intents and purposes, despite the claims of some, the water boarding against Khalid Sheik Muhammad (whom I believe most Americans wished they could waterboard themselves) yielded invaluable results that have broken up a number of terror cells across the globe - but nevertheless, like sleep deprivation, it is decried as "torture", along with seemingly any other tactic that warrants information from those not protected by the Geneva Convention.”
Source:http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/439225/alqaeda_torture_vs_cia_interrogation.html?cat=9
Pro Argument #5: These specific terrorists deserve a little extra punishment for the death and misery they've caused.
Evidence: “Mounir al-Motassadek, who is accused of being a member of a terrorist organization and being an accessory to the deaths of more than 3,000 people on 9/11, was sentenced to 15 years in prison by a German court.”
Source: http://www.balancedpolitics.org/prisoner_torture.htm
Arguments and Evidence-Con
Con Argument #1 Terrorists might choose death over capture more frequently, possibly costing lives and eliminating a potential information source.
Evidence: “The nearly simultaneous suicide bomb attacks at two American hotels on Friday suggested that Islamic terrorist groups, though significantly weakened in Indonesia in recent years, still had the means to mount deadly assaults in one of the most heavily secured areas here in Indonesia’s capital.”
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/world/asia/18indo.html
Con Argument #2: Stated in the Geneva convention, You treat our POWs humanely, and we'll treat your POWs humanely.
Evidence: “Mistreatment of enemy prisoners endangers our own troops who might someday be held captive. While some enemies, and Al Qaeda surely, will never be bound by the principle of reciprocity, we should have concern for those Americans aptured by more traditional enemies, if not in this war then in the next.”
Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/51200/page/1
Con Argument #3: What is increasingly apparent from the evidence coming out of Guantanamo Bay and other sites is the dehumanization of the victims who are tortured…leaving them physically and mentally hurt.
Evidence: “A team of UK and Serbian scientists has conducted a study that suggests mental and physical torture cause the same amount of harm and are indistinguishable in their long term impact on psychological health.”
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/64636.php
Con Argument #4: Torture gets rid of national honor and what the United States stands for.
Evidence: “The United Nations has accused the government of holding hundreds of people for months without trial on the basis of flimsy evidence and the Iraqi association of lawyers says the beating of prisoners is widespread.”
Source:http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1505390/Troops-find-more-tortured-prisoners-in-Iraq.html
Con Argument #5: We become virtually identical to the extremist religious terrorists. We are copying them. Even the techniques of torture adopted by the US are based on techniques used by our enemies.
Evidence: "They would not let you rest, day or night. Stand up, sit down, stand up, sit down. Don't sleep. Don't lie on the floor," one prisoner said through a translator. The detainees were also forced to listen to rap artist Eminem's "Slim Shady" album. The music was so foreign to them it made them frantic, sources said. ””
Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Investigation/story?id=1322866
Works Cited:
Covington, Coline. “Torturing terrorists is bad for your health.” The First Post. N.p., 22 Apr. 2009. Web. 4 Oct. 2009. <http://www.thefirstpost.co.uk/47109,news,torturing-terrorists-is-bad-for-your-health-coline-covington>.
De Las Casas, Chadd. “Al-Qaeda Torture Vs. CIA Interrogation Methods.” Associated Content. N.p., 7 Nov. 2007. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. <http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/439225/alqaeda_torture_vs_cia_interrogation.html?cat=9>.
Messerli, Joe. “Should high-ranking captured terrorists be tortured to obtain information?” Balanced Politics. N.p., 4 Mar. 2007. Web. 1 Oct. 2009. <http://www.balancedpolitics.org/prisoner_torture.htm>.
Newsweek. “Torture’s Terrible Toll.” Newsweek. N.p., 21 Nov. 2005. Web. 5 Oct. 2009. <http://www.newsweek.com/id/51200/page/1>.
Onishi, Norimitsu. “Indonesia Bombings Signal Militants’ Resilience.” The New York Times. N.p., 17 July 2009. Web. 5 Oct. 2009. <http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/18/world/asia/18indo.html>.
Paddock, Catharine. “Mental And Physical Torture Do The Same Psychological Harm Say Researchers.” Medical News Today. N.p., 6 Mar. 2007. Web. 5 Oct. 2009. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/64636.php>.
Poole, Oliver. “Troops find more tortured prisoners in Iraq.” Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., 13 Dec. 2005. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. <http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/1505390/Troops-find-more-tortured-prisoners-in-Iraq.html>.
Ross, Brian, and Richard Esposito. “CIA’s Harsh Interrogation Techniques Described.” ABC News. N.p., 18 Nov. 2005. Web. 6 Oct. 2009. <http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/Investigation/story?id=1322866>.