In the United States, there have been numerous attempts at terrorist attacks and threats to national security. Police are constantly on alert for the growing determination of Terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda, Mossad and other terrorist organizations that threaten the safety of Americans. Over the years, threats to national security have been made on various occasions, and it has been the responsibility of the US government to ensure its citizens do not have to experience another event such as 9/11. In this respect, it is vital that information regarding any planned attacks be attained before the attacks are carried out. For this, a network of informants is required. The Authorities have to identify various informants and from them gather details relating such attacks. These informants do not readily or willingly accept to provide such information. It is with force and other inhumane methods that the government uses to gather such information. To this, there are various arguments made to favour their actions in deviating from societal norms to achieve those results. An analysis of these particular reasons is given in the following paper.
During the Algerian War for Independence, there are various accounts of the events that took place where France soldiers used excessive force in order to gather information pertaining to the FLN (Front de Liberation Nationale’) (Musu, Saadi & Pontecorvo, 1969). General Aussaresses’ was arraigned in court for trying to justify war. The General had shared the excruciating details of the actions he took during the fight for Algiers. This information was shared through a novel, and it is from this that the lawsuit erupted. However, the General was unapologetic for the actions he took at the time. He argued that is it wasn't for his actions, then the information would not have been attained and he would not be able to save the lives he saved. Even though the book gave an account of 24 deaths and supervised torture for many others. This account is one of many all-around Algeria and the world. To the French nationals, killing and torturing of Algerians were a moral act which led to the security of information and saving of lives (Daley, 2001).
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In 1840, when the war with Algiers began, General Thomas Bugeaud had made his arrival in Algeria and started the war on Algerians. Atrocious acts were committed in the event of this quest. Alexis de Tocqueville, a French Political thinker, claimed that if anyone wished to make war on Arabs, they had to face such atrocities. To him, the laws of war entitled them to take those actions and ravage the country with an aim to carry men and flocks. He had studied Koran and concluded that it was because of the religion of Muhammad that was the result of such decadence. In addi6iona to the war in Algiers, that in Africa was to be considered. The acts of General Bugeaud were treated as heroic acts that showed and proved the path to which Africans could be subdued. According to Alexis De Tocqueville, a political thinker, General Bugeaud had identified a way to which Africans could be subdued through the continuous invasion and eruption of war against them. In this way, the Africans could stay subdued. To him, the general had discovered a way in which Africans could be subdued by everyone. War was a science that was mastered by General Bugeaud (Grandmaison, 2001).
As explained above, America has employed various methods to extract information from a would-be terrorist. In preventing a repeat of 9/11, there have been claims posed to the various presidents in office as to the methods used by the CIA in order to get such information. However, all presidents have denied the use of torture as a method employed to extract such information. The government claims that such methods cannot be revealed to the public as this would cause the terrorists to identify the methods used during interrogation. By identifying this information and methods, they would be able to train on how to work with these methods. To this, President Bush, for instance, claimed that he could not reveal the methods used by the CIA in interrogation as such information could potentially harm the citizens (McCoy, 2006). Many people are siding with torture as a last resort to gaining information from terrorists and claiming that it is for the benefit of all.
With various case studies in place, the various arguments made to favor the deviation from societal norms exceed a certain account. General Aussaresses’ claimed that these actions were necessary as they guaranteed the safety of French Nationals. Through the use of brutality, the French nationals would be able to attain the necessary information they required. This strategy is also employed in the United Sates. Victims are tortured and made where the search for terrorists continues. Unlike in the French-Algiers war, various people deny the claims as they go against any morals standards, values and laws. However, the Algerian War and its subsequent events provide detailed information as to the various torture methods used to attain this information. This was one of the reasons. The second was that the people needed to identify and determine white supremacy. In Africa De Tocqueville claimed that war was a tool which aided in learning of the science of war. To promote expansion and imperialism, this political thinker emphasized that acts of such atrocious nature were important to show the native people the capability of the Europeans. This action was a necessity as it showed their supremacy over the black people (Daley, 2001).
For many people, the use of torture is unacceptable. The law clearly indicates that people are entitled to certain rights when dealing with legal authorities. However, there are various reasons adopted by Authorities to ensure these acts prevail in the face of national security. For instance, employment of torture to discover the location of a Bomb that is about to go off in the city killing hundreds. Where natural security is concerned, the legal procedure is lengthy and can lead to the suffering of various people, hence use of torture as an information attracting method is justified in that respect. However, these proceedings have also led to an increase in racial discrimination and other race-related problems. Just as it is in various wars, torture was employed for a race considered illegitimate. The same way, cases, where black people are mishandled, beaten up or even tortured, are prevalent in the States currently. The use of such methods and provision of justification of the same crosses a line which leads to decay of moral values for the legal bodies and hence increasing the prevalence of violence and similar atrocities.
References
Daley, S. (2001, November 29). France Is Seeking a Fine in Trial of Algerian War General. The New York Times . Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/29/world/france-is-seeking-a-fine-in-trial-of-algerian-war-general.html
Grandmaison, O. L. C. (2001, June 1). Liberty, equality, and colony. Retrieved June 23, 2017, from http://mondediplo.com/2001/06/11torture2
McCoy, A. W. (2006, September 13). The Myth of the Ticking Time Bomb. Retrieved June 23, 2017, from http://progressive.org/%3Fq%3Dnode/3940/
Must, A., Saadi, Y. (Producers) & Pontecorvo, G. (Director). (1969). The Battle for Algiers . Rizzoli Pictures & Rialto Pictures. Italy Algeria. Media. Retrieved from https://archive.org/details/TheBattleOfAlgiers1966GilloPontecorvo
