US Enemy Combatants

Paper Summary:

The paper examines Jane Mayer's "The Black Sites", Jonathan Turley's "Rights on the Rack" and the Seton Hall "Report on Guantanamo Detainees" that shed light on the nature of those prisoners classed as 'enemy combatants', the role of 'black sites' in the torture and confinement of these prisoners, and lastly the issue of US torture of these detainees. The paper highlights the evidence that shows how under the cover of describing their prisoners as 'enemy combatants', the United States government has supported and encouraged its interrogators in the torturing and psychological abuse of non-combatant civilians of other nations.

From the Paper:

"So far, the Government has offered little evidence that the people being held have been involved in fighting against American soldiers: their own Summary of Evidence for each prisoner makes clear that the label was pre-determined "The United States Government has Previously determined that the detainee is an enemy combatant" (Seton Hall). The Study demonstrates that more than half of the people detained under the category were not involved in hostile acts against the US army, and suggest that, rather than being captured in battle as one would expect from the description of them as Enemy combatants, around two-thirds of the prisoners were derived from Pakistan or the Pakistani Authorities."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Mayer, Jane "The Black Sites: A rare look inside the C.I.A's secret interrogation program" The New Yorker August 13, 2007.
• "Seton Hall" including: Denbeaux, Mark; Denbeaux Joshua, Gratz, David; Gregorek, John; Darby, Matthew; Edwards, Shana; Hartman, Shane; Mann, Daniel, and Skinner, Helen. Report on Guantanamo Detainees: A Profile of 517 Detainees through Analysis of Department of Defense Data. Seton Hall University, Date c.2006.
• Turley, Jonathan "Rights on the Rack: Alleged Torture in Terror War imperils US Standards of Humanity" LA Times 06 March 2003
• Unknown "Torture Timeline" (2008)

More papers on US Enemy Combatants:

• Research Paper # 113434 : "Contempory Transportation Security Issues in the U.S."
• Persuasive Essay # 105150 : "Challenges in Intelligence"
• Persuasive Essay # 62907 : "Human Rights Violations at Guantanamo Bay"

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