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Malach Goldberg

Layton

English IV

16 November 2018

Annotated Bibliography

Apuzzo, Matt, et al. “How U.S. Torture Left a Legacy of Damaged Minds.” ​The New York

Times​, The New York Times, 8 Oct. 2016,

www.nytimes.com/2016/10/09/world/cia-torture-guantanamo-bay.html.

This article focuses on the lasting effects of torture and how torture techniques were

developed. As a result of the enhanced interrogation tactics, many are left with PTSD and other

symptoms. The techniques developed based on data from a training program known as SERE.

The goal of this was “learned helplessness” which is the idea that when people realized it wasn’t

gonna stop, they stopped resisting. They kept prisoners at CIA black sites as well as Guantanamo

bay on a torture schedule, with the hope of creating this helplessness. While this may have

yielded information, there were many prisoners who were there because of mistaken identity.

This article seems to be very reliable. It is published by three authors from the New York

Times including Matt Apuzzo, Sheri Fink and James Risen. New York times is an widely trusted

source. The article was published in October 2016. This article has many sources of evidence to

back up it claims. It also provides multiple examples of it claims further strengthening the

argument.

This article will be the main source for my paper. It is rather lengthy and provides

countless examples, quotes and data to support my argument. It brings a lot of credibility to my
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argument as the source is the New York Times. It also explains how the torture techniques were

created as well as discussing their effectiveness. This article will be a core element of my

argument.

Inskeep, Steve. “The Drawbacks of Fighting Terrorism with Torture.” ​NPR,​ NPR, 29 June 2006,

www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5519633​.

Steve Inskeep is the author of the NPR article titled, “The Drawbacks of Fighting

Terrorism with Torture”. Inskeep references ​The One Percent Doctrine​ by Ron Suskind. The

article analyzes the effects of torture explained within the book and how torture can yield

unreliable information due to duress. The prisoner that is mostly focused on is Abu Zubaydah, a

suspected member of the Al Qaeda leadership. After being tortured, Zubaydah would begin to

talk about anything and everything. He then went on to deliver tips that major u.s. Landmarks

would be targeted. These tips were completely unfounded as essentially none of them were

legitimate targets. Later it was found out that even though President Bush held Zubaydah as a

main player, U.S. intelligence officials considered him a lower level recruiter.

This source was published in June 2006. Normally this would be too long ago to be

considered a reliable source this is an exception. The U.S. policy on torture changed after the

September 11th terror attacks to allow “enhanced tactics”. The height of these tactics were used

during the years spent locating Bin Laden. This article is factual based and seems to contain a
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minimal amount of bias. NPR is a reliable and trusted source that present facts with limited bias.

A large part of the article is based on Ron Suskind’s novel, ​The One Percent Doctrine.​ He is also

a trusted source as he was a writer for the Wall Street Journal from 1993 to 200 and won a

Pulitzer Prize in 1995.

This article will ultimately help strengthen my argument as it highlights the effects of

torture and how it yield unreliable results. It will also be beneficial to discuss in actual victim of

these practices. Drawing the connection between how intelligence official disagreed with the

usefulness of certain assets with President Bush’s views will also be valuable

Waller/Washington, Douglas. “Weapons Of Torture.” ​Time​, Time Inc., 24 June 2001,

content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,138886,00.html.

In this article written by Douglas Waller, Weapons of Torture, it talks about how stun

guns are becoming widely used as torture devices. While they were created to limit and help

reduce the use of excessive force, they are being abused. The reason for this abuse is how

impactful electric shocks can be and they leave little to know permanent physical damage. They

were designed to help control inmate population. However there are multiple examples of the

contrary. Guards in a chinese prison forced a shock baton down a prisoners throat and turned it

on. Political opposition members in the Democratic Republic of the Congo were put into a

Kinshasa jail. Instead of their usual physical punishment of beatings, they were continually

shocked by a cattle prod until they were unconscious. As the United Nations and the U.S.

Government are realizing the potential impact these devices they can have, they have tried to
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prevent where the devices are able to be sent. This however has been ineffective as many

importers in foreign countries have found multiple ways around this.

This source was published in 1998 by Time Magazine. While this is usually too long out

of date for a source to be utilized, this should be an exception. There is no evidence of change in

successful change to prevent U.S. companies from shipping stun guns to countries that practice

torture. Time is also a reliable source that uses many sources to provide factual sources. While

there is a slight lean to the left, but the unquestionable factual reporting outweighs this.

This source will be used in a different way than the other sources I am using. It will be

used as a way to showcase a different torture technology that is being used by many nations to

suppress their people. It will also be used to present how some U.S. companies sell devices to

countries, which are known to practice torture, just to turn a profit. I will also address how

importers are getting around U.N. restrictions. This article will also highlight how politics and

economics play a role in torture throughout the world.

Johnson, Douglas A., et al. “The Strategic Costs of Torture.” ​Foreign Affairs​, Foreign Affairs

Magazine, 26 Jan. 2017,

www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/united-states/strategic-costs-torture.

The article, The Strategic Costs of Torture, talks about the ways that “enhanced

interrogation” hurts the United States. After 9/11 the Bush administration authorized the U.S.

military and the CIA to utilize “enhanced interrogation techniques”. However many interrogators
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went well beyond what they has authorized. President Obama issued an executive order that

banned the government's use of torture. Yet again this likely going to change as President Trump

has been very vocal about his pro-torture viewpoint. In the years after former President Bush’s

torture tactics were being used, report began to surface about it greatly contributing to the flow

of foreign fighter in Iraq. It was found to be “the single most important motivating factor”

(Johnson), for foreign fighter to join jihadist groups. As the United States continued using torture

methods, it broadcasted throughout the world that humane treatment standards did not matter in

the war on terror. Jihadists took American tactics like waterboarding into their own use and even

made prisoners wear jumpsuits like the ones used at Guantanamo Bay. This not only hurt the

U.S. image locally, it also impacted it globally. Governments delayed ratifying treaties and

agreements over concerns about the U.S. use of torture and the practice of transporting prisoners

off sovereign soil to commit these acts without judicial overwatch.

The article was written in October 2016 which was only two years ago. Since my topic is

largely dealing with foreign relations, Foreign Affairs will be a valuable source. It is also very

reliable. According to Media Bias/Fact Check, it is one of the least biased sources with a high

level of factual reporting. It also includes multiple examples of events that took place. It includes

modern perspectives and has 3 separate authors. It also talks about modern policy the Trump

Administration about terrorism.

This article will help fortify my point in my research paper. It has countless examples of

how torture was used and its effectiveness. It is one of my more recent sources so I will also be

able to talk about the current administration viewpoint and utilization of torture in the fight
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against terrorism. It highlights the problems with torture and how it is does not provide the

desired results, especially for the lasting impacts on the victim.