Combating Terrorism: The Legality, Utility and Morality of Coercion

Abstract

In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks on America on September 11, 2001, U.S. leaders were determined to avoid another strike against the nation. As part of their efforts in the ensuing Global War on Terrorism, America's leaders authorized the use of coercive techniques during prisoner interrogations to gain intelligence deemed crucial to national security. The policies and procedures that emerged have brought the legitimacy of coercive techniques, which some view as torture, to the forefront of the political debate. This paper focuses on the legality, utility, and morality of coercive interrogation techniques employed for the sake of state security.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 20, 2012
Accession Number
ADA560644

Entities

People

  • David Astin

Organizations

  • United States Army War College

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical
  • Counter WMD
  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Air Force
  • Civil Rights
  • Crime
  • Department Of State
  • Governments
  • International Law
  • Judiciary
  • Law
  • National Security
  • Public Policy
  • Security
  • Students
  • Terrorism
  • Terrorists
  • United States
  • War Colleges
  • Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Fields of Study

  • Political science

Readers

  • Criminal Law
  • East Asian Political and Security Studies within the Soviet Union
  • Military History / Militaries and War Studies