Human Torture: Right or Wrong?

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Human torture has been around for a long time. It can be dated back to ancient Rome and medieval Europe. Although torture existed so long ago, obviously, like all things, it has changed over time. The methods used now are more developed than the methods used during the medieval times. The advancement of science and technology has affected the world in so many ways, and unfortunately, new procedures of torture are one of those products that “benefited” from such developments. Torture was a controversial topic then, and remains a controversial topic now. The disagreement lies in whether or not torture should be in effect in the world today and whether or not it is an effective way of seeking information. Human torture has been widely viewed as a possible way of gaining important information, especially during the cold war era by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and during the Bush administration; however, the use of torture is morally wrong and inhumane, it damages the reputation of the organization that put it to use, and it is generally ineffective since false information is usually what is provided.

During the cold war, the American Psychological Association (APA) teamed up with the CIA to create Project MKUltra, which infamously became known as a mind control program. One of the tests done in MKUltra include using LSD (Lysergic Acid Diethylamide) on subjects, which would be put to use during torture (Nature.com). At first, LSD failed to qualify as a “truth serum” which is defined as a drug able to induce a state in which a person answers truthfully to questions he or she is given. Although it eventually did not pass as a truth serum, it was discovered that its use in a very high dose can produce an excruciating amount of terror in the victim. This gave an unfortunate idea to the CIA. Demand the truth from the individual, then threaten them with a very high dose of LSD if they do not cooperate. All the experiments the CIA combined to result in psychosis and death in some of the subjects. Another test the CIA for of MKUltra was to create mind control through the use of drugs, and the use of several other things like electroshock, just to see how easily a person could be “controlled,” or if it were possible. The CIA did not even tell the subjects the real purpose of these experiments. The subjects simply thought they were going in to be tortured, not controlled. These experiments in mind control would play a role in creating unconscious assassins and unpersuadable prisoners. The unconscious assassins would basically be controlled to carry out missions exactly how the military would want, and the unpersuadable prisoners would be completely blank in the face of imprisonment, unable to break under the pressure of torture. If the experimenting was successful, the CIA could have constructed a soldier that followed all of their commands without hesitation. Then if the soldier were captured by the enemy, he would resist all forms of torture the enemy forced upon him. Such a test as this is not only morally wrong, since it degrades the individual to that of an animal or robot, but it also violates basic human rights.

Torture does not require any form of masterful scientific or psychological knowledge. It can be done in a variety of ways, but through any means that seems “less painful” still does not make it “more right.” However, what the Bush administration thought when they utilized torture was that exact statement. Using some type of scientific expertise to perform torture is precisely how the Bush administration went about the act. Psychology helped the Bush administration mainly through its ambience. Simply having psychological prowess on their side made the Bush administration seem invulnerable. They stated that what they were doing was “enhanced interrogation” which is really a

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euphemism for torture (Welch 2). The two directors of this “enhanced interrogation” program were James Mitchell and Bruce Jessen. Together, they combined their knowledge, with knowledge they continued to learn about psychology and torture, to create some of the most mentally aggravating torture techniques possible. Mitchell and Jessen came up with different ways of torture to torture detainees in Afghanistan. Usually, what they would do to the detainees revolved around sensory deprivation and sleep deprivation. These two made up for maximum psychological torture. In order to achieve sensory deprivation, the CIA would first keep the subject isolated in a room, with no sound and no light. Then, the torture continued with the polar opposite of that state. The room would be lit with bright lights and loud music would blast into the room, which would inevitably wear down the senses of the detainee and result in sleep deprivation due to the lights and music. While all of this was happening, the subject would be put in unnaturally painful positions for long periods of time. Combining all of these together would mentally destroy the detainee. The constant torturing leaves permanent effects on the tortured, effects that can result in their complete loss of sanity, post-traumatic stress disorder and, in more extreme cases, possibly even death by suicide.

From simply physical pain to the more advanced psychological pain, torture is wrong. Most articles one reads about torture appeals to pathos, the reader’s emotions. Since torture is such a tough topic to talk about, the authors of most articles against torture really identify the reality of torture. The authors share almost too many features on some topics, forcing the reader to instantly side with the author. The articles really dig deep to make the reader pity the tortured, bringing up and going into detail about the types of torture and the wrongness of it. After reading many articles, in some cases, torture

can be seen as revenge. Revenge has always been the impulse decision when dealing with someone who has wronged you. However, the problem with revenge is that it puts the avenger on the same level as the one who wronged. This applies to torture, not so much to war. The wrongness and terribleness of torture can be summed up into two sentences: “Torture rehearses eternal damnation” and “Past a certain point, the victim's fear is no longer that he will die but that he won't” (Chazelle). Anything that replicates “eternal damnation” or makes someone want to die is simply inhumane and should never be practiced. Not only is it very wrong to the tortured, but torture can completely destroy the reputation of the torturer as well. In reference to destroying the reputation of the torturer, this sticks out most from Project MKUltra. Ever since the actions of the CIA and the American Psychological Association during the cold war era, both organizations, especially the APA has been viewed differently. The APA, as stated in the Nature.com article, “deserves all the criticism it receives and more” for its actions at the time. The most ironic thing about the APA is that it is an organization that wants to deal with people with mental issues to help them, yet during the cold war, they were the ones coming up with ways to inflict mental pain. This sheer irony completely erases the credibility of the APA.

The most common example of torture is called the “ticking time bomb scenario.” This example is seen in movies or cartoons, and it is usually one of the first images of torture that a person would visualize. This is the scenario where a time bomb has been placed somewhere, and a captured terrorist knows the location of the bomb. He is questioned and interrogated until, like in any movie, he gives the secret location away after breaking under torture, saving thousands of lives, which makes

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the torturer look like a hero. Unfortunately, the things we see in movies are not so much the case in real life. It is actually rare that this exact scenario unfolds this way. The problems with this scenario lie in the terrorist. As proof from 9/11, radical terrorists will risk their own lives in order to end the lives of others. To a radical Muslim, the best thing one can offer to their god is their own life. They will die for what they believe in, and torture will not have an effect on changing that. In fact, it is quite possible that the torturing will make them feel like a hero. Even if they do not completely deny knowing where the bomb is, they are more than likely to give a false location of it. Reasons like these render why torture is rather ineffective on most victims. Although not always the case, generally the tortured will stay strong or provide incorrect information; they have been trained to do so, and are convinced that giving their life is the ultimate sacrifice for their god and people.

Although human torture, whether through psychology or not, is considered means of gathering information, evidence suggests that torture does more bad than good. As it has progressed and advanced since its beginning, torture has developed into not only physical pain, but mental and emotional pain as well. Hurting the body is one thing, but inflicting pain on an individual’s mentality to destroy their very being from the inside out is another. The work by the APA and the CIA has established the very thing that should be avoided, and it shows how the reputation of the organization using torture can be tainted. Considering most victims of torture now are radical terrorists, most forms of torture are ineffective. The reason for this is because they will die for their cause; most radical Muslims would more than likely feel like heroes to torture, and would embrace it. The many reasons as to why torture is wrong outweigh the reasons as to why torture should remain, and because of this, torture should be eliminated from our country.

Works Cited

Campbell, Thomas A. http://www.sciencedirect.com.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/science/article/pii/S0272735807000402

Chazelle, Bernard. https://www.cs.princeton.edu/~chazelle/politics/torture09.html

Luban, David. http://muse.jhu.edu.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/journals/kennedy_institute_of_ethics_journal/v019/19.3.luban.html

Summerfield, Derek. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1125696/?tool=pmcentrez

Welch, Bryant L. http://search.proquest.com.prox.lib.ncsu.edu/docview/887541742?OpenUrlRefId=info:xri/sid:summon&accountid=12725