Ideology, Strategy, and Politics: the United States resorting to the use of torture during the War on Terror
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2021-07-12
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en
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Following the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Bush administration decided to disregard international conventions and laws by using torture during the War on Terror. This paper establishes the legal and historical framework of international and domestic torture policies, its definition, and the role the United States played in establishing these rules and regulations before and after 9/11 took place. More specifically, it argues that there are three important explanations as to why the United States decided to establish a torture program. The first reason is a matter of ideology, the second a matter of strategy, and the third a matter of politics. On the one hand, the United States wanted to establish a world order in which their values were deemed most important, while on the other hand, they believed their core values were superior to international values which led them to believe they had to safeguard their constitution. Moreover, according to the matter of strategy, the US was determined to protect their country by all means necessary, also known as Machiavellianism and Jacksonianism. Lastly, as established by a matter of politics, the US removed many legal obstacles to ensure the legality–or better, the lack of illegality–of their actions.
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