Enhanced Interrogation Techniques: Rhetorical context for the article “Torture’s Unanswerable Questions”

US Law US Constitution--8th Amendment: “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unusual punishments inflicted.” US War Crimes Act: (A) Torture.— The act of a person who commits, or conspires or attempts to commit, an act specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control for the purpose of obtaining information or a confession, punishment, intimidation, coercion, or any reason based on discrimination of any kind.

International Law Geneva Convention—Article 17: “No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted or exposed to unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind." United Nations--Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment: “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat or war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.” Restricts acts of torture to the following list: (1) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering; (2) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality; (3) the threat of imminent death; (4) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality.“ (signed by President Ronald Reagan on April 18, 1988)

Enhanced Interrogation Techniques October 5, 2007 President Bush insists the US government does not torture: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6LtL9lCTRA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6LtL9lCTRA

Enhanced Interrogation Techniques Monday December 22, 2008 After a weekend interview with Fox News Sunday, Vice President Cheney spoke to the conservative newspaper The Washington Times: "I think there were a total of about 33 who were subjected to enhanced interrogation; only three of those who were subjected to waterboarding," Cheney told the paper, according to a transcript released by the Vice President's office Monday. "Was it torture?? I don't believe it was torture.? We spent a great deal of time and effort getting legal advice, legal opinion out of the Office of Legal Counsel, which is where you go for those kinds of opinions, from the Department of Justice as to where the red lines were out there in terms of this you can do, this you can't do.? The CIA handled itself, I think, very appropriately." Techniques beyond waterboarding include use of stress positions, forced nudity, sleep deprivation and exploitation of fears, for example by threatening detainees with vicious dogs.

Waterboarding Waterboarding is a form of torture that consists of immobilizing the victim on his or her back with the head inclined downwards, and then pouring water over the face and into the breathing passages. By forced suffocation and inhalation of water, the subject experiences drowning and is caused to believe they are about to die. It does not simulate drowning; it IS drowning that simulates death. As early as the Spanish Inquisition waterboarding was used for interrogation purposes, to punish and intimidate, and to force confessions. Following World War II war crime trials were convened. The Japanese were tried, convicted, and hung for war crimes committed against American POWs. Among those charges for which they were convicted was waterboarding. Waterboarding was designated as illegal by U.S. generals in the Vietnam War . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LPubUCJv58

Context for Torture Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp in Cuba Abu Graib Central Prison in Iraq Frontline: The Torture Question http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02p7e&continuous=1 (first few minutes) Frontline: The Torture Question “Taking the Gloves Off” http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/video/flv/generic.html?s=frol02p7e&continuous=1 (6:30 – end)

Washington Post Editorial “Torture’s Unanswerable Questions” by Richard Cohen Read the essay Use the Rhetorical Triangle to analyze the parts of an argument in Cohen’s essay.

Title of Essay: “Torture’s Unanswerable Questions” The Rhetorical Triangle Subject/Text: Cohen uses an anecdote about a hypothetical terrorist named Ishmael to show that prisoners of war will not give up information unless tortured. He also shows how neither extreme of the topic of torture can really solve the issue. Logos: CIA Inspector’s report—K.S. Mohammed was repeatedly waterboarded and provided info that saved lives; Cheney supported enhanced interrogation; Judith Miller of NY Times put in jail Context/Occasion: Laws about torture: 8th Amendment, US War Crimes Act, Geneva Convention, etc Incidences of abuse of torture committed by the U.S. during the War in Iraq at Abu Graib and Guatanamo Bay The article was written on Sept 1, 2009 after the laws have changed and near the anniversary of 9/11 Fallacies: Ad Misericordium: “What if one of those lives was your child’s?” Slippery slope: “What will happen if no torture is used?” and “So, though, is the hole in the ground where the World Trade Center once stood.” Hasty Generalization: “No one can possibly believe that America is now safer because of new restrictions. . .” Purpose: To convince the audience that the issue of torture is not a black and white decision Author/Speaker: Richard Cohen Writer for the Washington Post Ethos: Cohen refers to different high-ranking officials and top agencies to suggest that if they haven’t agreed on a solution on torture, then that proves that it is a difficult problem. CIA inspector general, Attorney General Eric Holder, Justice Department, CIA interrogators, Vice President Dick Cheney Audience: American people who have extreme opinions on the issue of torture—either for or against it. Pathos: Fear--“What if one of those lives is your child?” Patriotism, “. . .where the World Trade Center once stood.” Fear/Safety—”No one can possibly believe that America is now safer. . .” Claim: The issue of torture is complicated and cannot be decided by resorting to one extreme ideology or another. Tone: Questioning: “Does it sometimes work? Does it never work? Is it always immoral? . . .” Condescending: “No one can possibly believe that America is now safer. . .” Conflicted: “I am torn between. . .” and “Torture never works, torture always works. . .”