Академический Документы
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Malach Goldberg
Layton
English IV
8 February 2019
Thesis: Terrorists cause fear to spread pandemically; however, this does not justify the use of
torture, which recurrently yields erroneous information.
Annotated Bibliography Part 2
Apuzzo, Matt, et al. “Does Torture Work? The C.I.A.'s Claims and What the Committee Found.”
The New York Times , The New York Times, 9 Dec. 2014,
www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/12/08/world/doestortureworktheciasclaimsand
whatthecommitteefound.html.
This article explains the report on the CIA’s claim of torture working and what the Senate
Intelligence Committee found. There are eight key cases that the CIA cited before the committee
that they believe are examples of torture tactics thwarting attacks and saving lives. The Senate
Committee goes on to refute these claims. The CIA even acknowledges that at times the
information was inaccurate and swore that it would work better in the future. The committee
analyzed cases including the locating of Osama Bin Laden and the prevention of the Karachi
Plots.
This article is very credible. It is published by the New York Times, which is widely
respected as being credible and fairly unbiased. While the article was written in 2014 it is still
relevant because of its clear insight and information about key terrorists and attacks. It is also
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contains a significant amount of information from the Senate Intelligence Committee, which is in
charge of oversight of U.S. intelligence agencies.
This article will be used for my counterclaim. It provides the point of view of the CIA,
which believes that the information gathered from torture is accurate and justifies the torture.
The Senate Committee review of these statements will be used to help refute the CIA belief
towards torture. It will demonstrate that the attacks were prevented without the use of torture and
no accurate information was gained to justify the use of torture.
Cooper, Ryan. “Why Torture Doesn't Work: A Definitive Guide.” The Week All You Need to
Know about Everything That Matters , The Week, 18 Dec. 2014,
theweek.com/articles/441396/whytorturedoesntworkdefinitiveguide.
This article explains why torture doesn’t work on anatomical level. Torture needs one of
two things. To either meet the maximum pain threshold of an individual without exceeding it, or
to use a wide variety of torture methods to address fears and phobias. Torture has the ability to
very easily exceed the maximum pain threshold of an individual resulting in blackouts, memory
loss, and desensitization. Desensitization can happen when the human body shuts down pain
receptors to protect the human body from immense amounts of physical trauma. During 12 years
of research into countries including Nazi Germany, Soviet Union, and the United States, found
that even in totalitarian states, torture did not work to gather intelligence.
The Week, the publisher of the article, has credible, factualbased reporting and a slight
liberal bias according to Media Bias/Fact Check. This article was published in 2014 and is still
relevant today. It was written at a time that more information about the CIA’s torture tactics were
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coming to the surface. The author, Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent who has had articles
featured in the Washington Post, The New Republic and the Washington Monthly.
This article will be used to reinforce the idea that torture is inefficient at attempting to
gather information. It also provides a different point of view of the many negatives of torture. It
will be used to show how torture is ineffective because of physical adaptations in the body. It
will also be used to demonstrate that torture has to be so precisely tailored to the target to be
successful, that traditional interrogation methods will always be better to gather information.
O'Mara, Shane. “Why Torture Doesn't Work.” Psychology Today , Sussex Publishers, 26 Mar.
2016,
www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/theinterrogatedbrain/201603/whytorturedoesntw
ork.
This article looks at the psychological and neurological effects that torture inflicts on the
detainee and the torturer. When the extreme stressors that are used in torture are employed, it
shifts the brain away from its typical, narrow range of operation thus inhibiting the ability to
function properly. This leads to tissue loss within the brain, specifically the temporal lobe which
is the region of the brain where memories are stored.The method of sleep deprivation, commonly
implored in torture, prevents proper general cognitive function as well as psychomotor
functioning. The people torturing the detainees are also deeply troubled. They are unable to
function properly due to PTSD and the inability to sleep.
This source is very credible. Psychology Today is a magazine that is published biweekly,
since 1967. It was founded with the intent to bring the knowledge from the field of psychology to
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the general public. They follow the guidelines of scientific principles, thus publishing facts
without political bias.
This source will be use to present another point of view on torture. It specifically will be
used to showcase the neurological effects torture can have. This will allow me to show all the
effects torture will have on an individual in conjunction with my other sources. I will be able to
explain the physical, the emotional, the psychological, and now the neurological effects of
torture.
Shermer, Michael. “We've Known for 400 Years That Torture Doesn't Work.” Scientific
American , 1 May 2017,
www.scientificamerican.com/article/wersquoveknownfor400yearsthattorturedoes
nrsquotwork/.
This article is by Michael Shermer, focuses on how it has been known for a significant
amount of time, that torture is does not work. Four hundred years ago, the Duke of Brunswick
proved its unreliability.During a torture session on a suspected witch, he brought two jesuits with
him. He asked this witch if the two jesuits were warlocks. Immediately following the question
the torture began. Instantly the witch made up a story how she had seen these men doing various
activities that demonstrates them as warlocks. This resulted in a book being written in 1631 that
would lead to the end of the witch craze and showcasing how torture does not work. A 2014
study in the journal Applied Cognitive Psychology , conducted a study with 64 detainees. The
study found that the information yielded through a rapportstyle interrogation was gathered more
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quickly and it was reliable versus the information that is gathered through “enhanced
interrogation”.
This article comes from Scientific American, the oldest continuously published monthly
magazine in America. They consistently report evidence that is legitimately sciencebased and is
credible. The many famous scientists that have contributed articles over 170 years include Albert
Einstein. This source is seemingly unbiased and seems to follow scientific principles. The source
was published in May 2017. It presents multiple facts, quotes, and scenarios that are detailed and
supported by evidence throughout the article.
This article will be used to show how torture leads to erroneous information being
gathered. I plan on mentioning how torture’s ineffectiveness has been known for 400 years. I also
plan on mentioning the studies conducted. This article will provide multiple pieces of evidence
as well as data to help shape my argument and persuade the audience.
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