December 16, 2005

Should America Torture Terrorists for Information?

Since 9/11 a question has been floating around about whether or not America should torture terrorists to extract information. There are two camps on this issue. John McCain, who was tortured himself as a P.O.W., says that torture is immoral and should not be allowed. The other camp says that torture should be allowed in some circumstances.

This is a very complicated issue, and many things have to be considered when reaching a conclusion about whether or not torture should be allowed. Here are a few questions to consider.

If America tortures terrorists, will it deter potential terrorists from attacking Americans?

Does legalized torture of terrorists hurt America’s international standing?

Does legalized torture of terrorists put our troops in more or less jeopardy?

Is the torture of terrorists beneath the dignity of America?

If we had captured Mohamed Atta, at 11:00PM on September 10, 2001, would it have been okay to torture him to find out which flights his fellow terrorist were going to hijack?

If a terrorist group hid a dirty bomb somewhere in Manhattan, and the FBI had one hour find it, would it be okay to use torture to find the bomb?

Please think about these questions and post your thoughts, by clicking on Comments below.

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