No Amnesty For Torturers

Throughout history, many countries and civilizations have employed torture on war captives. They used inhumane methods of intense interrogation to get information by any means necessary. But in “civilized” times, some may see the act of torture as a primitive and barbaric method of intelligence gathering from prisoners of war. There should be no amnesty for torturers and those who permitted the act, even those in the top ranks. In recent news, several torture related documents have come under public and judiciary scrutiny. The memos included torture methods that were not considered torture because they left no long term psychological effects. The culprits were United States appointed agents who, according to their statements, were just following orders. These acts of torture were not disclosed to the public until 2009.
The lawyers made it clear that these tactics would not mortally injure the prisoners or leave permanent psychological harm. Vanity Fairs columnist, Christopher Hitchens offered to demonstrate the act of water boarding on himself; he didn‘t last thirty seconds. The memos in question were concocted by the Bush administration’s lawyers which set guidelines for considering what the nature of torture is and what are intensive interrogations. If said methods did in fact divulge vital information, the act was still barbaric. They employed water boarding on 9/11 mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed 183 times and 83 times against Abu Zubaydah, another Al Qaeda figure. Now, were they seeking vital information or was it payback? Neither of these options could condone the act.
The lawyers permitted these acts because we employ the same techniques on our own soldiers. For example, soldiers are water boarded to gain a resistance to torture methods of that sort. Another torture method they used was a low calorie intake diet. Which means they starved the prisoners just enough to break their will but not killing them out right. As more and more investigation is being done, the Senate Intelligence Committee is unraveling the case. They are discovering that there are very prominent figure heads behind this scheme like former Vice President Dick Cheney. They explained that these harsh tactics were justified to avert an other catastrophic event like September 11. But if these acts were done to protect the peoples, why were they kept in secrecy. There was obviously an air of mischief that was to be concealed from the American public and the world for that matter. The grand decision now rests on Attorney General Eric Holder’s shoulders and I , like many more who sympathize with my opinion, do believe this matter should not go without a full investigation. I also believe that no one is truly above the law and those who under mind justice should be subject to punishment like everybody else.