The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
The Torturer's Dilemma: Analyzing the Logic of Torture for Information
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<strong>the</strong> revolution itself, hidden among <strong>the</strong>ir most valuable asset: <strong>the</strong>ir own men. If it can be shown that<br />
French success in dismantling <strong>the</strong> FLN in Algiers was not primarily <strong>the</strong> result <strong>of</strong> torture, and that <strong>the</strong><br />
use <strong>of</strong> torture by necessity caused <strong>the</strong> French to lose strategically what <strong>the</strong>y had won tactically, <strong>the</strong>n we<br />
will have a strong case to make that torture – while it may work in individual circumstances – simply<br />
does not work as a system <strong>of</strong> ga<strong>the</strong>ring in<strong>for</strong>mation. In addition, <strong>the</strong> comparison provided by <strong>the</strong> use <strong>of</strong><br />
torture by <strong>the</strong> FLN against itself allows us fur<strong>the</strong>r evidence <strong>of</strong> torture's unsuitability <strong>for</strong> in<strong>for</strong>mation<br />
ga<strong>the</strong>ring. <strong>The</strong> purge in <strong>the</strong> bled was no Stalinist attempt by <strong>the</strong> more authoritarian sections <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> FLN<br />
to centralize power and do away with political opponents: while <strong>the</strong> torture began in Amirouche's<br />
Wilayah 3 (highly centralized and authoritarian), <strong>the</strong>y quickly spread to <strong>the</strong> far more democratically<br />
organized Wilayah 4 under Si M'hammed. Moreover, <strong>the</strong>re were traitors operating against <strong>the</strong><br />
revolution – unlike Salem, this was no imaginary threat. And yet torture in <strong>the</strong> bled not only proved<br />
incapable <strong>of</strong> locating <strong>the</strong> source <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> treason, it did more to help <strong>the</strong> French than <strong>the</strong> torture in <strong>the</strong><br />
Casbah.<br />
<strong>The</strong> chapter proceeds as follows. <strong>The</strong> next section outlines <strong>the</strong> scope <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> investigation and<br />
outlines <strong>the</strong> analysis <strong>of</strong> torture that I use. <strong>The</strong> third section covers <strong>the</strong> history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Algerian liberation<br />
movement, beginning in 1945 with <strong>the</strong> Sétif uprising, and extending to <strong>the</strong> Battle <strong>of</strong> Algiers itself (1957<br />
– 1958). With <strong>the</strong> basic historical data established, <strong>the</strong> fourth section examines <strong>the</strong> role played by<br />
torture in <strong>the</strong> break up <strong>of</strong> Yacef's terror organization, and argues that torture per se was less responsible<br />
<strong>for</strong> Massu's successes than <strong>the</strong> in<strong>for</strong>mants who willingly (or unwillingly) revealed <strong>the</strong> names and<br />
positions <strong>of</strong> FLN activists. <strong>The</strong> fifth section <strong>the</strong>n turns to <strong>the</strong> effects <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> French success in<br />
infiltrating and perverting <strong>the</strong> FLN, by examining how <strong>the</strong> search <strong>for</strong> traitors unleashed ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
deceptive cycle. Section six considers <strong>the</strong> effects <strong>of</strong> torture on balance, weighing <strong>the</strong> ambiguous<br />
successes against <strong>the</strong> certain failures, as well as <strong>the</strong> weakening <strong>of</strong> French domestic support, and <strong>the</strong><br />
collapse <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Fourth Republic itself. <strong>The</strong> final section concludes by considering <strong>the</strong>se cases in light<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>the</strong>ory.<br />
4.2. <strong>Analyzing</strong> <strong>Torture</strong><br />
Be<strong>for</strong>e beginning this project, I should first describe <strong>the</strong> scope <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> investigation. We are not<br />
concerned in this chapter with <strong>the</strong> success <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> French colonial project – after all, <strong>the</strong> French were<br />
<strong>for</strong>ced to leave Algeria despite <strong>the</strong> crushing <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> FLN's organization in Algiers. But to denounce<br />
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