Program Extras
Share
Program Overview
- Hosts: Ray Suarez
- Length: 51 minutes
- Original Airdate: Jun 2009
"Those who argued for these tactics were on the wrong side of the debate, and the wrong side of history. That's why we must leave these methods where they belong, in the past..."
– President Obama, speech at the National Archives, May 2009
The tactics in question, water-boarding and the CIA's other harsh interrogation methods, have come back from the past to haunt Washington yet again. President Obama let the skeletons out of the closet by releasing Bush Administration memos that detail the justification and use of these methods to grill suspected terrorists. This reignited the debate over how to define torture—and how far is too far when it comes to keeping Americans safe. Other democracies—from Israel to Britain—have wrestled with these questions when tackling their own terrorist threats.
Segment 1: Ray Suarez traces the history of the debate over the status and treatment of enemy combatants. Listen to this segment.
Featuring Jonathan Bush, Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia University's School of Law.
Segment 2: Ray Suarez looks back at the evolution of Israel's policy on the interrogation of Palestinian detainees. Listen to this segment.
Guests include Jessica Montell, Executive Director of B'Tselem, a human rights organization based in Jerusalem and Yehuda Shaffer, former Assistant Attorney General in Israel's Ministry of Defense.
Segment 3: Sean Carberry travels to Belfast and London, to look for lessons from the British experience of interrogating IRA militants during the conflict in Northern Ireland. Listen to this segment.
Guests include Colm Campbell, Professor of Law at the University of Ulster; Michael Culbert, Director of the Committee on Behalf of Political Ex-Prisoners; William Smith, Development Worker for the Ex-Prisoners Interpretive Center; Sean O'Callaghan, former member of the Irish Republican Army; and John Grieve, former London cop and Senior Research Fellow at Portsmouth University.
Segment 4: Ray Suarez moderates a discussion on the legality and efficacy of interrogation practices under the Bush Administration. Listen to this segment.
With David Luban, Professor of Law and Philosophy at Georgetown University and David Rivkin, Partner at Baker Hostetler, an international law firm.
Interrogating Torture / Executive Producer: Aaron Lobel / AAM Producers: Monica Bushman, Sean D. Carberry, Matt Ozug, Monica Villavicencio and Chris Williams / Interns: Megan Nemeh, Nadia Shairzay and Ann Thomas.
Music heard on this broadcast:
“Vindaloo” by Four Piece Suit
“Hells Bells” (Instrumental Karaoke Sing-Along) by AC/dB
“Run Through the Jungle” by Creedence Clearwater Revival
“Torture” by The Cure
“Israel” by Siouxsie and the Banshees
“Interrogation” by Trevor Jones
“Voodoo Child (Slight Return)” - The Jimi Hendrix Experience
"In the Name of the Father" by Bono and Gavin Friday
“20 Questions” by the Posies
Additional Broadcasts
What People are Saying
The first part of the program was excellent. The last part was not. It devolved into cable-style talking head conflict. I could almost predict what they would say. The difference is that in the Israel and UK part of the story, you interviewed cops, combatants, and human rights lawyers, but Rivkin and Luban were not directly involved in anything.
, about 1 year ago
I agree that the two halves differed markedly in their quality and relevance to the topic. Suarez allowed Rivkin to make assertion after assertion without challenge. Luban at least built arguments rather than just stating talking points in an impatient, dismissive tone. Two things Rivkin said really got under my skin. First was the notion he propounded that holding security service personnel accountable to the law was dishonorable. Exerting that the rule of law = dishonor by prosecuting torturers provides a great example of Neo-con Newspeak in my opinion and would have been laughed out of court at Nuremberg. And, second, Rivkin's justification of torture by arguing to the effect that 'they're going to hate us anyway,' is a perfect example of the contemptuous short-sightedness that has plagued our approach to the Muslim world.
, about 1 year ago
