The manner in which prisoners are abused and ill- treated is vaguely known of, but majority of the issues which take place, and the magnitude of abuse they undergo in secret prisons, are far away from habitation and also, our knowing. The media source highlights one such, of the many incidents which take place, in this case in a CIA secret prison Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The issue which has been dealt in this article is whether the way in which these prisoners are ill treated and put under emotional and physical torture, to give out information, is ethical or not. One may think that ultimately they are prisoners; it is justified if they are tortured and abused as they have anyway committed serious crimes, but on the other hand, there is another perspective to it and that is that this is morally wrong. No matter how severe the crime committed, threatening an al Qaeda prisoner “with a gun and an electric drill” cannot be justified as it is firstly illegal, and secondly ethically incorrect.

The person making the claim has based the article on the knowledge he has, and the facts given to us are narrated from his perspective. Some events have taken place in the past, and there could be a national bias involved in the claim made taking into account the fact that the news has been reported from Washington, there may be a bias towards the CIA and the American government involved. There are chances that the information provided is not completely authentic and there may be certain issues that have not been brought out in the open as is mentioned that “A CIA spokesperson would not talk about the specifics of the inspector- general’s report” and thus the article cannot be completely trusted. When I read the article, I am, somewhere biased towards the prisoners as my emotions are an obstacle to the fact that they are criminals, but on the other hand the person making the claim is biased to his/ her country, and government. This incident, though mentioned has not been dealt with the seriousness it actually deserves, and when they leadership found out about the incident they were only “angry as hell”. When viewed with another perspective, although the claim is totally against the act of the CIA, there are chances that the incident may have been blown out of proportion, and again the fact may not be in place. The person who makes the claim was not an eye witness to the incident, and thus either the event may have been exaggerated and described in emotional language, or played down or ignored. It depends on us, whether or not to believe the claim strictly according to the details provided, or rationalize and think of the chances of another possibility. What the knowledge claim implies is that ethically it was wrong to treat the prisoners in such a manner, but on the contrary, no strict measures have actually been taken against this. Although there is empathy towards the prisoners, the article highlights all the measures taken by Bush, though not sufficient enough. Not enough details are given about the atrocities these prisoners under go whereas it is needed to make people aware and take a stand against it.

The facts provided to us, involve Mathematics, as we have been given values of the year, the number of sailors dead in the USS Cole and also the number of times interrogations have taken place and the prisoners tortured. The numbers could have been manipulated according to what the person who put the claim up actually wants. The articles argues upon whether the treatment the prisoners underwent was right or wrong, but the possibility, that the CIA agent who committed this illegal act, would have done so on been provoked emotionally has been overlooked and not discussed. We are taking this possibility for granted are biased towards the prisoners, on the basis of the information given to us.

The prisoners have been ill treated, and although this incident may not affect out lives personally it is essential to have our own opinion on it. What is morally wrong is wrong, and should be prevented from happening. If the claim is true, it is necessary for us to care, not only because as individuals, our opinions define who we are, and one should have a clear idea about what they believe. Our beliefs affect our actions and the stance we take, can either change something wrong, or not. Moreover, the ill-treatment of the prisoners is ethically wrong, it should be given thought as such a situation could repeat itself, and if firm action is not taken against this, it may become something very casual.