Enhanced Interrogations Keep America Safe Summary

Terror, suffering, and murder of innocent civilians struck America on September 11, 2001. Four planes caused the world to stop turning and changed the future of the country and world forever. However, this was not the first time America had been hit by foreign terrorists; numerous times throughout the previous decade America had been attacked not only on American soil but also at American embassies and facilities in foreign nations (Cheney). In an effort to thwart impending attacks on the homeland, the US government authorized “enhanced interrogations,” as Dick Cheney calls them, on high profile terrorists to gain information (Cheney). This decision has caused uproar in the nation prompting people to debate where the line between necessary for national security and morality should be drawn. In April of 2009, Cheney released an article describing why he believed that these interrogations were necessary. Throughout the article, he incorporated numerous facts and
Cheney begins by stating that the attacks of September 11th were by far the worst attacks on America but were certainly not the first. He lists several terrorist attacks that occurred on and off American soil that resulted in the deaths American citizens and military personnel (Cheney). Among them, he mentions one of the most infamous tragedies in American history by saying, “We had just been hit by a foreign enemy—leaving 3000 Americans dead, more than we lost at Pearl Harbor” (Cheney). Cheney is implying that enhanced interrogation was the necessary response to the 9/11 attacks, just as America’s commitment to World War II after Pearl Harbor. Throughout the rest of the article, Chaney continues to deliver numerous facts, each one expanding his argument. However, Cheney’s greatest argument is found in the emotion that he evokes from the