Dershowitz: Torture Could Be Justified

The general public can never fully comprehend the extent of torture, as it is a mostly underground occurrence that we are only exposed to in brief glimpses of news—such as the release of prisoners being tortured in the Abu Ghraib prison—and through distorted depictions in the media. I think that torture should be avoided unless in extreme cases, such as the time bomb case presented by Dershowitz.

Before the debate, I was against torture as a means of extracting information from suspects because it is easy for soldiers to get overwhelmed with the amount of power they have over those they are torturing. For instance, American soldiers extensively tortured and humiliated prisoners in Abu Ghraib. The controversial images that were released from …show more content…
This accusatory wording makes it seem like Dershowitz wants to promote the use of torture by making it legal. However, Dershowitz makes it clear that that is not his intention because torture will happen regardless of whether or not there are warrants; however, these warrants will impose some regulations on the type of torture that can be used, who can use it, and when they can use it. Ken Roth further elaborates his point by saying, “Once you open the door to torture, once you start legitimizing it in any way, you have broken the absolute taboo” (“Dershowitz: Torture Could Be Justified”). I agree with this point; however, removing the taboo associated with torture will most likely result in people no longer brushing the issue under the table and actually having a conversation about it. Roth appeals to the audience’s sense of American nationality by stating, “We have to understand the United States sets a model for the rest of the world. And if the United States is going to authorize torture in any sense, you can imagine that there are many more unsavory regimes out there that are just dying for the chance to say, ‘Well, the U.S. is doing it, we’re going to start doing it as well.’” (“Dershowitz: Torture Could Be Justified”). Roth then draws an extreme connection between torture and terrorism: “If you start opening the door [to torture . . .] you’ve basically sent the signal that the ends justify the means, and that’s exactly what Osama bin Laden thinks. He has some vision of a just society. His ends justify the means of attacking the World Trade Center” (“Dershowitz: Torture Could Be Justified”). This was very striking because terrorism is a taboo that no one wants to be associated with. By saying that torture is essentially a

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