Torture and the Ticking Time Bomb

Anonymous

I am amazed that scenarios such as the “ticking time bomb” (TTB) continue to be influential in the public debate over torture and interrogation. Kim Scheppele, who posts here, has a fine article tearing this scenario apart in “Hypothetical Torture in the ‘War on Terrorism’” to be published soon in the Journal of National Security Law & Policy. What disturbs me is the moral shallowness of this particular scenario. Defined in a common sense way, torture involves deliberate cruelty and, as such, should be absolutely prohibited.

I haven’t followed the blogosphere debate in detail, and I certainly hope I am not repeating anyone’s arguments in what follows. I noticed that Judge Richard Posner’s recently published book, Not a Suicide Pact (Oxford Press, 2006), relies on the TTB. If nothing else, Posner is well read, and thus if he uses the TTB without qualification it is likely there is not yet a set of well-known objections.

Posner begins his discussion of torture (in a chapter on “Rights Against Brutal Interrogation”) by employing a consequentialist calculus: “The value of the information sought depends in part on the menace to social welfare that has motivated the interrogation. If it is dire enough and the value of the information great enough, only a die-hard civil libertarian will deny the propriety of using a high degree of coercion to elicit the information. It might be the whereabouts of a kidnapping victim, the location of a ticking time bomb, the site of a biological weapon about to be deployed, the identity of key terrorist leaders, or the details of terrorist plots.” Posner’s subject is constitutional rights, not morality. But it is not only the “civil libertarian” who is interested in assuring humane treatment but everyone concerned with doing right and upholding basic moral values.

Posner then asserts that torture is often effective (more effective than other justifiable forms of interrogation), without any detailed review of the evidence (for an example of a detailed review, see Kim’s article). Posner thinks the ground of objection to torture is “revulsion” alone. He makes the useful comment that we should not confuse torture as a routine practice of dictators “with torture as an exceptional method of counterterrorist interrogation.” But he thinks public opinion is against torture: “Public efforts at justifying torture are doomed in the present climate of opinion. . .” Posner comments: “In the era of weapons of mass destruction, torture may sometimes be the only means of averting the death of thousands, even millions, of Americans. In such a situation it would be the moral and political duty of the president to authorize torture. It seems odd that people who accept this point nevertheless denounce torture with such ferocity.”

Posner thus relies explicitly on the TTB and similar scenarios. In understanding what is wrong with the TTB, we would do well to remind ourselves that it is a fantasy, and a fairly insidious one at that, judged by its ubiquity. The TTB is not a historical episode that we can examine in all its complexity and, as far as I know, nothing like it has ever happened (I am assuming that the TTB scenario involves a terrorist attack intended to kill at least thousands of people and is thus not about an “ordinary crime”). Instead, it is a hypothetical designed to score moral and policy points. That it has apparently scored so many is a disturbing testament to the lack of moral imagination in current public debate. For one is allowed, I believe, to counter fantastic hypotheticals with other hypotheticals.

In a democracy, I do not think we should ask our fellow citizens to sacrifice themselves or their principles for the public good unless we are, at least in principle, prepared to do the same. We may not be capable of serving in the military, but we should understand what that means before we ask our fellow citizens to fight for us. One of the signal characteristics of the TTB is that it treats the interrogators and their agency, their principles, as a black box. Who they are is unknown. But we should not assume “democracy for us, dictatorship for the interrogators.” The interrogators are our fellow citizens, part of our democracy, and it would be wrong to ask them to do something we were not prepared to do ourselves. Thus the democratic implication of the TTB is that we must steel ourselves to do something that is very unpleasant, but necessary.

So let us imagine ourselves in the interrogation room with the suspect. Evidence collected from his apartment certainly seems to indicate that he has knowledge of a looming terrorist attack, but he is begging for mercy. Too bad, isn’t it? All we have done is deprive him of sleep and clothing. And it is a bit cold. Unfortunately, he may be scared and cold, but he hasn’t given us one scrap of useful information. And we’re under some time pressure. Your superior has an idea. For better cover, the suspect was living with his family, a wife and young daughter. We’re detaining them in another room. The evidence seems to show the suspect cares for them. Perhaps if we brought them into the room? Your superior warns you to steel yourself for what comes next. Perhaps the suspect will respond to mere threats that they might be put to death in front of him. If threats are not enough, however, we must be prepared to do the worst. Of course, in some cultures there are acts regarded as worse than death. Your superior looks at you. Do you understand what he is talking about? Of course you do. You are experienced in the ways of the TTB, of doing what is necessary to elicit information under the terrible pressure of a deadline.

I really hope I don’t have to elaborate further this fantastic scenario of moral corruption. Our popular culture is full of faux scenarios of torture and cruelty. Just check out your local video rental store. What’s amazing about the TTB is that it is taken to be “real,” a serious matter for public debate. But it’s no more real than my scenario, a Tom Clancy novel of military adventure or a superhero comic.

The TTB counts on eliciting a certain sort of response. Of course, “the president would have to authorize torture” to prevent millions from dying. But surely it puts a slightly different spin on the situation to imagine that you are the one responsible for making sure the interrogation is effective. And you will have to live with the consequences if you turn out to be wrong. What wouldn’t you do to prevent millions from dying? Well, I wouldn’t engage in torture, child abuse, murder, rape and a whole long list of morally corrupt acts. And I’m willing to bet you wouldn’t either. Scenarios like the TTB are well designed to cloud our reason and judgment. For that reason, we should avoid them and concentrate on the ways in which we can realistically prevent terrorist attacks.

I almost forgot. After you finish following orders and torturing the suspect, it turns out he really didn’t know anything. That’s the way almost all of these scenarios end, isn’t it?
Posted 10:21 AM by Anonymous [link]