Essay --

Pain is one of the most powerful human motivators. People will say anything to make it stop because it hurts. And when used specifically to derive information our federal government can make it hurt a lot. No one should ever have to be put through the type of pain that is specifically engineered to hit your pain threshold, engineered to cause you to fear your interrogator, engineered to make you talk. The practice of enhanced interrogation should not be used under any circumstances because it is illegal under international law, it’s not always effective, and it’s inhumane. What is enhanced interrogation? In simple terms it’s when an interrogator uses techniques that are specifically designed to cause you a.) either so much pain that you break down and tell the interrogator what they want to know or b.) you fear pain and your interrogator so much that you readily give them the information that they seek. So, what techniques does the American government use to derive information from it’s prisoners? Some techniques that they have used are sexual humiliation, sleep deprivation, sensory deprivation, sensory overload, solitary confinement, mock execution, medical experimentation, learned helplessness, intimidation by dogs, confinement in a box with insects, and waterboarding. â€Å"The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhumane, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment’s stance on torture is ‘No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war or an emergency may be invoked as j ustification for torture [or enhanced interrogations], which inflict pain and suffering and most UN scholars consider to qualify as torture under international law.† (Dinan) However under international law it is ... ... they will never be normal again.(Stephens) This is a list of just a few of the techniques and their described effects that our own government and foreign governments use. The effects are cruel and long-lasting and they stick with you for a long time, not to mention the immediate effects of fear and pain from thing such as being waterboarded. It’s cruel and inhumane and illegal. All in all enhanced interrogation doesn’t get you anymore and it’s just plain cruel. There are many better alternatives to torturing the information out of someone. The more peaceful route should always be taken. If we don’t want our own citizens undergoing the same stuff that we put the citizens of foreign countries through than we should never ever do that to them. It goes back to the most basic rule of all time. The Golden Rule â€Å"Do unto others what you would have them do unto you†