Blake Busby

Adam Padgett
Eng 102
28 February 2016
Inquiry: How should torture be treated for foreign policies throughout the United States?
Proposed thesis: "The use of torture should be implemented and legalized when dealing with
foreign policies within the United States of America."

Commented [AH1]: I dont think you need quotes!

Chossudovsky, Micheal."The Role of 9/11 in Justifying Torture and War."Globalresearch.org.

N.p., 11 Dec. 2014. Web. 24 Feb. 2016
Chossudovsky makes his argument against the acts of terrorism in any matter within the united
states. He covers main events and known people in the united states such as the 9/11 terror,
President Bush, and facts regarding the CIA. The central theme in his article is that the
government makes it out to seem like all terrorist are evil and should be permitted to torture. He
claims that there have been more errors of torture than success within it. Meaning they have
tortured for no reason more than they have tortured for a positive influence. He quotes how the
government states things such as "legally misguided" instead of "illegal" or "criminal" in order to
cover up their tracks of a wrongful doing. The relevance in this for me is to make it one of my
opposing viewpoints. By finding ways other people view it, it will open up more windows for me
to show how in the same ways they think its bad, there is also good. He thinks that no matter the
circumstances, torture "dehumanizes" someone. He also focuses on the rules of the government

Commented [AH2]: interesting

and how they really bend those rules when it suites their needs. Michael is an award winning

Commented [AH3]: also interesting!

author along with winning a Gold Medal Award in Merit.

Arrigo, Jean Maria. "The Good Psychologist, Good Torture, and Good Reputation
Response to ODonohue, Snipes, Dalto, Soto, Maragakis, and Im (2014) The Ethics of
Enhanced Interrogations and Torture." Taylor Francis Online. N.p., 2015. Web. 7 Feb.
2016.
Id like to say this article will be one of my strongest within my paper. It is very informative on
the EIT or "Enhanced Interrogations or Torture." The central theme of this article is the
necessity's of using torture along with who should be allowed to enhance the act of torture.

Commented [AH4]: I would add a few more sentences on

this!

The article uses real life events recorded throughout history to support its details. This was a
big article that had all sorts of credible writers involved such as ex-CIA, ex-police officers,
and a member of National Security in the United States. Though this article is made out to
be informative, it has a slight bias towards torture being acceptable under certain
circumstances.
'Torture is never acceptable'." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.
The central idea of this article is revolved around President Bush back when he was the big man
in charge. This was a main event during its time when the President vetoed to block the ban
of torture. It has relevant information regarding facts on the bill he vetoed. It talks about how
if the law were to pass, it would only "benefit terrorist" which would have a very negative

Commented [AH5]: This is a good resource for your

research question, because Bush did not want to ban
torture, so there is a reason for torture.

affect on the US. The reason this article is so useful is because it is presented with facts and
real life main events involved within our country.

Commented [AH6]: Credibility?

McMahan, Jeff. "Torture, Morality, And Law." Case Western Reserve Journal Of International
Law 37.2/3 (2006): 241-248. Academic Search Complete. Web. 8 Feb. 2016.
Jeff presents us with another argumentative article on how he thinks torture can save many
innocent lives. In his article he mentions a past situation known to some as the "Murders

Commented [AH7]: This will be a good source for your

thesis!!!

Copycat." This is a situation in which when one person is commiting a certain kind of
murder but later gets locked away, he has someone on the outside to continue his "work." He
uses other great examples and situations in which torture could have a postive impact on the
lives of innocent Americans. This article will greatly impact my paper as I will have
examples of certain situations to back up my evidence and claims.

Commented [AH8]: Credibility?

Klien, Phillip. "Morality and the Torture Debate." The American Spectator. N.p., 23 Apr. 29.
Web.29 Jan. 2016.
Philip's main focus in this article is the morality of torture. This is the best article I have as far as
how it follows along with my own personal views. He thinks torture should only be accepted
under certain situations. Torture, in his opinion, has the ability to save the lives of thousands of

Commented [AH9]: What are those Certain situations?

Americans. He brings up tragic events that will make you opinion your eyes and think "could
this have been prevented?"
Kirk, Robin. "No Right To Be Silent on Torture." Library.sc.edu. Muslimworld, 13 Apr. 2013.
Web. 2 Feb. 2016.
Robin's article is another one that has an opposing view than mine. Under every circumstance,
torture is "morally unacceptable." Her central claim is that the majority of torture acts that have
been committed have had no impact on a situation. Another claim she makes is that people dont

Commented [AH10]: Credibility? How will you use this in

your paper?

stand up to promote human rights abuse which means she doesnt support torture and others
should stand behind her. She has written many publications that have dealt with torture.

Commented [AH11]: How will you use the

counterarguments to further your thesis?