Torture

Torture, as Senator John McCain has made so very clear to us, is an awful and horrific act. The United States has been said to have been torturing various peoples at various times. Of course, we are not the only country to take part in this abominable act, but that does not make it OK. Torture is wrong, no matter what form it comes in, or where it comes from.

Torture comes in many forms, but it is always inflicted upon one (or more) individuals by another individual (or group). The torturing of prisoners at Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo Bay, the mass rape of women in 1992 with the Bosnian conflict. All these acts cause pain, embarrassment, and sometimes death to other human beings. The mistreatment of slaves, men beating women, women beating children, children beating animals. The ghastly antics of the Spanish Inquisition Court or Ferdinand and Isabella in 1478. They are all awful ways to convey a message.

Torture is an unnecessary way to get a point across. Information can be found out about other countries and terrorist groups without wrecking pain; they can simply ask, because most of the time, prisoners will not speak anyway. Conquering another land can be obtained via governmental control, not mass rape. A wife will listen to her husband, even if he does not hit her; in fact, she will be more likely to listen is he does not hit her, and the same goes for children and animals. “Enemies” of any institution can be discovered without acts of hostility towards individuals. Torture does not accomplish anything except rage and hate directed at a group or individual. It promotes conflict and solves nothing. Those who torture are in the wrong.

Although practiced for millennia, torture should not be a practice any person, group, or country accepts as a means of learning information, to prove a point, or send a message. It also gives political candidates something to bring up in every single speech, which is another form of torture for those listening.