The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information

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elieve that torture provides clever detainees with a means of passing misinformation to the state in a way that some states and interrogators will find uniquely believable. Even where the state tortures purely in good faith, it may find itself at the mercy of too-credible interrogators – and this is especially true where, as in the CIA's HVD program, success is measured primarily via 'productivity.' For these uncertain and intensely dangerous rewards, the state must pay significant costs: loss of reputation, loss of moral authority, and the certain radicalization of whatever underlying population finds itself subject to the threat of torture. The question should no longer be “should we torture?” Rather, it must become “can we afford to?” 135
CHAPTER 6 CONCLUSION: The Misleading Theater of Torture In the preceding chapters, we have seen how torture has corrupted and led astray those states that have made use of it. A single instance of torture, conducted by master against slave, converted a simple Witch-Trial in Massachusetts, such as had come and gone with little fanfare or bloodshed over the previous decades, into a spiral of denunciations and executions, as the logic of the traditional witch- trial was reversed: whereas in the past confession meant death, in Salem in 1692 confession and naming others held out the only opportunity to survive as one by those who held out were put to death. In Algeria, the use of torture led the FLN commanders in the countryside to conduct a painful purge that severely weakened their ability to confront the French – ironically, their situation was saved only by the French army's own use of torture, which so alienated Algerian opinion, and so demoralized French society, that the military would openly revolt against the constitutional order, first bringing Charles de Gaulle to power, and then attempting on several occasions to assassinate him once it became clear that he was not prepared to sacrifice France as a whole for the benefit of the Pieds Noirs as a group. In the War on Terror, the United States' use of torture has led not only the a severe loss of moral authority and global leadership, and given support to Islamist claims of the US as a force for evil in the world, but also led in large part to the declaration of war against Iraq – a war which has cost trillions of dollars, uncounted thousands of lives, and contributed in no small part to the collapse of the American economy. In all of these cases, we have seen how torture leads to cycles of denunciations which do not end of their own accord, but only when acted upon by an outside force. In Salem, elites increasingly found themselves in danger of being named by an unofficial junta of pubescent girls: only when Increase Mather, the foremost scholar and most respected minister in New England stepped in to the debate, armed with the latest in scientific research, was the process brought to an irrevocable halt. In Algeria, French torture was brought to an end only when de Gaulle ended the war to retain Algeria, while FLN torture ended only when the leadership of the purges were purged in their turn. The US reliance on an increasing number of tortured captives led to the creation of a theory to legitimate the 136
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THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEG
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This work is dedicated to my wife,
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TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT vii 1. T
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ABSTRACT In the aftermath of the Se
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judged by their effects. The deonto
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etter than chance on average, no ma
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from fiction, and also in the time
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the cases differ in how well inform
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characterization by method. Torture
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gather such evidence was strong, to
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ineffective. Something must prevent
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The description which it would be n
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powerful themselves. 21 While histo
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known by the misnomer 'torture-ligh
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substitute for intelligence gatheri
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This lack of good data on torture t
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found that the procedure can cause
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captive who has faced torture, and
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state cannot credibly commit to pla
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incentive not to present as favorab
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units, those engaged in the applica
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of causal mechanisms in a very dire
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the threats they face are real, whe
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3.1. Introduction. CHAPTER 3 THE WI
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discovered by Sir Thomas Newton and
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two, and the execution of the convi
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years preceding the outbreak at Sal
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these women - non-Church members, p
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Hubbard) and four grown and married
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innocent, and recalled that when he
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crowd was deeply and troublingly mo
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it was precisely in these terms tha
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came to an end. Misogyny was all to
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only the witch-trials that brought
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partners in their own (apparent) de
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possibility would be to question th
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John Bridges (whose own wife and da
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she again broke down and named seve
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forcing the already convicted to re
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We can thus see Tituba's confession
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Samuell Parris. 70 The strongest ev
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order to purge political dissidents
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torture as a failure based on this
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torture - the state will apply it e
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time, the government in Paris was c
Page 91 and 92: for two reasons - first, because Me
Page 93 and 94: The Soummam conference in the Summe
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Page 97 and 98: DOP in particular is instructive fo
Page 99 and 100: us stops in the city center. These
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Page 103 and 104: dismantling of the ZAA organization
Page 105 and 106: found in the literature: the revela
Page 107 and 108: In fact, the use of torture did hav
Page 109 and 110: e.g.), by March (when the DPU had b
Page 111 and 112: Paul Teitgen appears to have been c
Page 113 and 114: the French public. 95 Secondly, the
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Page 117 and 118: the reasons for holding the detaine
Page 119 and 120: y military interrogators. (Washingt
Page 121 and 122: fact come verbatim from a 1957 jour
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Page 125 and 126: to those believed to have informati
Page 127 and 128: name for metanetwork analysis. 102
Page 129 and 130: other words, the CIA High Value Det
Page 131 and 132: Padilla was accused by KSM of plott
Page 133 and 134: and an enemy of the United States,
Page 135 and 136: alternative mechanism) by Darius Re
Page 137 and 138: York Times, 09/12/2005) Insofar as
Page 139 and 140: these interrogations were conducted
Page 141: al-Qaeda is structured, names of in
Page 145 and 146: problem by the authorities - and ye
Page 147 and 148: situations (France in Algeria and V
Page 149 and 150: Jack Bauer was used as justificatio
Page 151 and 152: Biderman, Albert D. “Effects of C
Page 153 and 154: Crelinstein, Ronald and Alex Schmid
Page 155 and 156: History Teacher. 30:4 (1997): pp. 4
Page 157 and 158: International Council on Security a
Page 159 and 160: Lewis, Neil A. “Red Cross Finds D
Page 161 and 162: Obuchowski, Chester W. “Algeria:
Page 163 and 164: Schiemann, John W. “Interrogation
Page 165 and 166: Barack Obama is Inviting the Next A
Page 167 and 168: United States, Department of Defens
Page 169: BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH Patrick Armshaw
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