Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 The terrorism–torture link: when evil begets evil
- 2 Torture, terrorism, and the moral prohibition on killing non-combatants
- 3 The equivalent logic of torture and terrorism: the legal regulation of moral monstrosity
- 4 War versus criminal justice in response to terrorism: the losing logic of torture
- 5 Reducing the opportunities for terrorism: applying the principles of situational crime prevention
- 6 From the terrorists' point of view: toward a better understanding of the staircase to terrorism
- 7 If they're not crazy, then what? The implications of social psychological approaches to terrorism for conflict management
- 8 The cycle of righteous destruction: a Terror Management Theory perspective on terrorist and counter-terrorist violence
- 9 Misinformation and the “War on Terror”: when memory turns fiction into fact
- 10 Icons of fear: terrorism, torture, and the media
- 11 What explains torture coverage during war-time? A search for realistic answers
- 12 Reversed negatives: how the news media respond to “our” atrocities
- 13 Terrorism and TV news coverage of the 2001 Australian election
- 14 Terrorism, anxiety, and war
- 15 I'm right, you're dead: speculations about the roots of fanaticism
- 16 Reducing terrorist risk: integrating jurisdictional and opportunity approaches
- Index
- References
4 - War versus criminal justice in response to terrorism: the losing logic of torture
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 September 2009
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures
- List of tables
- List of contributors
- Preface
- 1 The terrorism–torture link: when evil begets evil
- 2 Torture, terrorism, and the moral prohibition on killing non-combatants
- 3 The equivalent logic of torture and terrorism: the legal regulation of moral monstrosity
- 4 War versus criminal justice in response to terrorism: the losing logic of torture
- 5 Reducing the opportunities for terrorism: applying the principles of situational crime prevention
- 6 From the terrorists' point of view: toward a better understanding of the staircase to terrorism
- 7 If they're not crazy, then what? The implications of social psychological approaches to terrorism for conflict management
- 8 The cycle of righteous destruction: a Terror Management Theory perspective on terrorist and counter-terrorist violence
- 9 Misinformation and the “War on Terror”: when memory turns fiction into fact
- 10 Icons of fear: terrorism, torture, and the media
- 11 What explains torture coverage during war-time? A search for realistic answers
- 12 Reversed negatives: how the news media respond to “our” atrocities
- 13 Terrorism and TV news coverage of the 2001 Australian election
- 14 Terrorism, anxiety, and war
- 15 I'm right, you're dead: speculations about the roots of fanaticism
- 16 Reducing terrorist risk: integrating jurisdictional and opportunity approaches
- Index
- References
Summary
Osama bin Laden and other terrorists are still in hiding. Our message to them is clear: “No matter how long it takes, we will find you, and we're going to bring you to justice.” … We can have confidence in the outcome of the war on terror because our nation is determined.
President George W. Bush (2006)In his speech to the Reserve Officers Association, President Bush joined two ways of thinking about the response to terrorism. Most commonly the President refers to the War on Terror (nine references), but he also promised justice: the terrorists will be brought to justice (one reference).
I review here the ways in which these two responses to terrorism are in conflict, and suggest the advantages of greater emphasis on criminal justice against a threat that is expected to continue indefinitely. Since 9/11, success against terrorism has come from police work embedded in a rights-oriented criminal justice system; failure has come from attempts to use military force that is not subordinated to a political framing of the problem. Torture is part of this failure.
The competing implications of war and justice for responding to terrorism
Inter-group violence, including war, is often launched in response to perceived injustice and violation perpetrated by the enemy (McCauley, 2006). It might seem, therefore, that war and justice are complementary or at least consistent responses to terrorist attacks.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Terrorism and TortureAn Interdisciplinary Perspective, pp. 63 - 85Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2009
References
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