With Good Reason

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After September 11, 2001 President Bush and his administration were under tremendous pressure to try to prevent another devastating attack, which they believed was imminent. This led to the secret authorization of interrogation methods that many have called torture. Jane Mayer, author of The Dark Side, and Dahlia Lithwick, a senior editor at Slate, discuss how techniques like water-boarding and humiliation became a part of America’s policy towards detainees.

Also, a group of Washington and Lee alumni and professors is trying to reshape America’s policy towards detainee treatment. David Jordan and Brooke Lewis have gathered a team of legal scholars and interrogation experts to draft “The Lexington Principles,” designed to prevent torture and clarify how America should gather information from prisoners.