Dear Future President,

Detainees are the prisoners we’ve captured from different extremist groups(terrorists) around the world. Groups like ISIS, Al Qaeda, and other extremists try to force their beliefs on other countries by use of either peaceful protests, or deadly force. The 9/11 terrorist attacks are a perfect example of an extremist attack. The issue here is what techniques the CIA are allowed to use to interrogate these Detainees, because some of the methods used currently are considered too cruel to be legal. However, we have to remember that these are the same people who are willing to perform deadly attacks on U.S. soil all because we let them worship how they please but don’t do the same, or because we don’t support their side of an argument in terms of their government. The methods of interrogation/punishment used by the CIA may be a bit unnecessary, but they aren’t completely unjustified.

The methods used by the CIA sometimes include waterboarding, beating, stress positions, and sleep deprivation. Take waterboarding as an example. The exact definition is when a person has a cloth over their face covering their breathing passages, and water is poured over it, which gives them the sensation that they are drowning. This technique is one of the most debated used by the CIA. But we have to be reminded that waterboarding is not meant to kill anyone, and that it is used on the worst of the worst because they have valuable information needed for us to avoid a terrorist attack. These techniques may not always work on the detainees, but they have usually worked and given us information.

What is the solution? Well in terms of getting them to work always, there is no solution. Some detainees are simply tougher than others, both physically and mentally. But, in terms of the public being concerned about the level of cruelty, the solution is simple. In terms of torture, the limit is death, by definition. We just need to find something that works and doesn’t breach that limit, and preferably doesn’t come too close to it. It’s that happy medium that takes a while to find, but does exist.

Best Wishes,

James Callahan