The issue of torture is a rising and very debatable topic in the government and the American public's eyes. The authors Jonathan Alter and Henry Porter have different takes on the topic of how torture should be legal or why torture is against the law today in the articles: "Time To Think About Torture," posted in Newsweek Magazine and "Now The Talk is About Bringing Back Torture," posted in The Guardian. In comparing and contrasting these two articles in which the first focused solely on how torture could be useful and helpful for the government, and the second article focuses on the effects of the media's support of torture, also the negative effects of torture.
             The meaning of torture is an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering upon another person within their custody or physical control.
             There are laws in the U.S. against torture, the law states "Whoever outside the United States commits or attempts to commit torture shall be fined under this title or imprisoned no more than 20 years, or both, and if death results to any person from conduct prohibited by this subsection, shall be punished by death or imprisonment for life" (1). In 2005 Senator John McCain who himself was a prisoner of war in Vietnam proposed an amendment that would outlaw the process of torture for U.S. held detainees. The vote passed ninety to one but faced veto by the White House over objections that the bill might hinder the CIA's ability to gather intel from detainees. In October 2006 the U.S. enacted the Military Commissions Act of 2006, authorizing the executive to conduct military tribunals of so-called enemy combatants and to detain them under the terms of habeas corpus.
             Both authors refer to torture that pertains the government. Alter states that "one sign of how much things have changed is ...