Joseph Harnegie

Professor McKeever
English 101
18 July 2015
Why Torture is a Necessary Evil
There is much debate today on the topic of torture for many reasons. Some feel the act of torture
goes against religion while others may feel it simply is not humane in any way. The definition of torture
is when severe pain is induced either in a physical means or a mental means in the process of edging
out information by the captive in order to usually help one side gain an advantage. Torture is not right
and is humane on so many different levels. However, torture does have a position in this world we live
in today. Torture cannot be viewed as inhumane if another 9/11 catastrophe occurs. The means to force
information out of the bad guys could prevent a massacre like that ever happening. Even small scale
attacks such as the Boston Massacre could be prevented with torture. Another bonus to this action is the
fact that our troops could benefit from it. When the U.S. military sends soldiers to one area, there is no
telling what areas are spiked with traps such as car bombs, snipers, etc. Useful information on terrorists
can lead to so many different advantages for America. Terrorists are out in the world trying to cause
chaos, pain, and destruction. Why give up a useful method to prevent such terrible things occurring?
Although one can make the argument that torture should be banned, it not only can save lives but can
produce greater results which could lead to peace that normal questioning just simply cannot create.
This is the 21st century and people do not abide by the rules anymore. Terrorists who are fighting
for religious purposes are still doing whatever they can do to gain the advantage. This includes
sacrificing their children or blowing themselves up with a bomb strapped to their chest. It does not
make sense to not take any course of action in order to save lives or to ensure better information in
terms of where traps are on the battlefield or when the next line of action is. The U.S. does not gain

brownie points with the rest of the world for not pushing torture upon certain individuals. In fact, other
countries do not bother with treating terrorists with respect so why should we? Donald Rumsfeld,
former U.S. Secretary of Defense stated, I think anyone who is beaten call it what you want, it's a
beating. And it shouldnt happen. And people have been instructed to treat people humanely. And to the
extent it has happened, people have bee punished and convicted in a court martial, under the Uniform
Code of Military Justice. Personally, treating terrorists as humanely as possible is not the way to go
about situations at this day of age. Torture should not be the first step in the process of accessing
information from a captive. Torture is harsh and is not always the answer. However, this tactic should
not be completely banned. As stated previously, torture can, at times, be the only option. Getting rid of
this specific method of getting material out of someone because its not humane simply does not make
sense to me. This is similar to the rest of the world catching up to the dominance of our country, why
give up a certain advantage? If our enemies are not treating us a humanely as possible, why should
banning torture be the solution?
There are many scenarios in which torture could easily prevent the worst from happening.
One great example of this argument is if a bomb was soon to go off but the individual responsible for
this was waiting in a room after being arrested. The officials come in and try prying the
information out of the captive, they are back to square one. The only scenario is to use some sort of
torture tactic to learn where the bomb is located at in order to save lives. Situations like this do not
happen every day. However, situations like this do happen in the world we live in. If a bad guy is
simply not giving me the answer to where the bomb is hiding, I am doing whatever in my power to get
that piece of information in order to save lives. Treating this bad guy as humanely as possible is not
high up on my to do list. However, as stated previously, this method cannot be a go to response to a
situation.
Although torture should be a necessary evil in certain situations, some tactics should simply be
banned. There are many medieval torture tequilas that should never be used or even remembered

again. This essay talks a little bit about why America should not care much about treating captives as
humanely as possible. However, some tactics are strictly too inhumane. One method, in particular,
involved a criminal being laced up into a bath tub while being fed regularly in order for them to bath in
their own excretion. This resulted in maggots feeding upon the body alive until the individual was no
longer alive. Scenarios like this should never even be thought of again. Methods similar to water
boarding are much more acceptable mostly because it causes the person to be tortured more mentally if
anything. If it is even possible to say, torture should be more civilized. Barbaric methods such as the
bath tub would only give the United States a bad name and would result in people saying whatever in
order to go free which would defeat the purpose of torture being a necessary evil.
The bottom line is that torture can be effective if used correctly. Try to avoid methods that can
destroy someone mentally or give them PTSD as the purpose is not to screw someone up forever but to
get information. Medieval methods or anything barbaric should never be used when trying to attain
information. Torture is not humane in any shape or form. However, in this day of age, torture can help
the good guys gain an edge on the bad guys. Whether torture is being used in order to destroy ISIS or if
it is being used to stop a small scale bomb threat, it should not be banned.

Work Cited

"Torture Is a Just Means of Preventing Terrorism." Idebate.org. Web. 18 July 2015.

What Is the Definition of Torture? - US - Iraq War - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. MerriamWebster's Dectionary, 16 Feb. 2007. Web. 18 July 2015. <http://usiraq.procon.org/view.answers.php?
questionID=000939>.

Pegg, David. "25 Most Brutal Torture Techniques Ever Devised in History." List25. 22 May 2013.
Web. 20 July 2015. <http://list25.com/25-most-brutal-torture-techniques-ever-devised/>.