For the purposes of this paper, torture will be defined as "the intentional infliction of extreme physical suffering on some non-consenting, defenseless, other person for the purpose of breaking their will. I note that a person might have been tortured, even if in fact their will has not been broken; the purpose of the practice of torture is to break the victim's will, but this purpose does not have to be realized for a process to be an instance of torture" (Miller, 2005)
She spoke of 'having a go' at suicide, like someone 'has a go' at tournament tennis" ("Sylvia Plath"). Additionally, one of Sylvia Plath's better-known poems, Lady Lazarus, from her posthumously-published Ariel collection (1965) describes a female speaker defiantly rising, like Lazarus, from each of several suicide attempts: Dying Is an art, like everything else I do it exceptionally well I do it so it feels like hell I do it so it feels real I guess you'd say I have a call [HIDDEN] Another well-known Sylvia Plath poem, Daddy, also from Plath's 1965 Ariel collection, alludes to the suicide attempt of the speaker, at age 20 (Plath's own age when she had her first nervous breakdown and subsequently made her first documented suicide attempt ), based on a wish to join her deceased father in death: I was ten when they buried you At twenty I tried to die And get back, back, back to you
Although as a matter of policy, most democracies have banned torture and have signed international conventions against the practice of torture and cruel punishments, periodic wars and crises force some policy-makers to question the wisdom of banning all kinds of torture. Thus, following the horrific attack on the United States on September 11, 2001, members of the Bush Administration began to advocate some forms of torture to extract information from terror suspects (Alvarez; Danner)
But there are several problems with this view. Firstly, many professional interrogators argue that non-coercive methods of interrogation are usually more effective in extracting information (Applebaum)
Secondly, who can define with precision the situation where torture may be acceptable or not? It is hard to impossible to delineate the line between situations when torture is "acceptable" and those when it is not. Thirdly, in numerous cases people who go through interrogations and torture turn out to be innocent (Banbury)
His memory harasses me as I once harassed him" (Fair). Such examples are legion (Blumenfeld)
It is rare that I sleep through the night without a visit from this man. His memory harasses me as I once harassed him" (Fair)
e. torture, because it is a new kind of war and that some of the provisions of the Geneva Convention are "obsolete" (Greensburg and Dratel)
Groups like Al-Qaeda may not care for international norms and morality but America may be involved in wars in the future and countries normally observing international treaties may have little reason to avoid torturing captured American soldiers (McCain). Moreover, as the systematic use of torture by the French forces in Algeria in 1950s and '60s demonstrates, torture often produces false information as those tortured are willing to admit to anything to relieve pain (Horne)
Torture inflicts unbearable pain and suffering to both tortured and the torturers. The victims of torture continue to suffer from physical and psychological effects of torture for years to come (Keller)
But this statement is historically inaccurate and does not justify the use of torture. The French military officials, fighting against NFL forces in Algeria also claimed that it was a new kind of war and also claimed that torturing was justified (MacMaster)
For example, if torture is rationalized, enemies will have at their hands even greater justification for practicing it when they capture our own troops and even civilians. Groups like Al-Qaeda may not care for international norms and morality but America may be involved in wars in the future and countries normally observing international treaties may have little reason to avoid torturing captured American soldiers (McCain)
Moreover, the climate built in torture chambers leads to even more abuses. Suffering from the elevated ego, interrogators who practice torture invent even more cruel and sadistic forms of torture (McCoy)
Some advocates of the use of torture invoke the specter of "ticking-bomb" scenario, saying that in cases when there is an urgent need to extract information which may prevent terror bombing, torture may be acceptable. Professor Alan Dershowitz has been one of the advocates of this view (Wisnewski)
It might be an interesting fact to mention here that it was always in secret that torture was done usually in the dungeons present underground. In contrast to this the torturous execution were usually carried out in from of the public (Levinson, 2006)
Still in this modern society that we live in today torture is being used as a means of getting the required information regarding the possible threats, enemies, possible attacks etc. (Parry, 2010)
The story of Vercingetorix was one of the very few exceptions. The Gallic army was led by Vercingetorix against Julius Caesar but he was captured during the assault and was tortured and held captive for a period of 7 years until the war lasted and at the end of this period he was executed (Reddy, 2005)
S. military against the Filipino detainees was defended by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1903 as he said that, "It did no real harm," the widespread use of the "third degree" (in which very intense interrogation methods are used that are mostly similar to torture) are by the police was revealed by The Wickersham Commission in 1931 (Schmid and Crelinsten, 1994)
S. The war captives were sacrificed in this torture (Vreeland, 2008)
In case of torture it does not matter if you are militia, government or the police force your major duty is to serve the country and the people in it and to protect their rights. Research has clearly shown that it is only one third of the time that torture usually works since the person being tortured will say anything in order for the torture to be stopped therefore, the information being given by the tortured doesn't necessarily have to be correct (Waldron and Colin, 2007)