Throughout the history of warfare, the United States, as well as other countries, has detained and interrogated their prisoners of war. The United States has used interrogation methods not fully questioned by its citizens until recent decades. There is a difference between enhanced interrogation and torture. Those in favor say it's a commendable way to retrieve information and has saved thousands of lives. Those against it claim that enhanced interrogation is torture and is “a vile and depraved invasion of an individual's rights and dignity” (Innes 6). Enhanced interrogation is an effective means of gathering information used to protect the lives of US citizens (and others) and is not torture because it uses restrictive methods unlike torture which is motivated by malice. Although torture and enhanced interrogation are similar in that they both coerce information from captured individuals, they are fundamentally different due to the motives and extreme measures used. Enhanced interrogation is used by the United States for some interrogation methods including “walling, face holding, face slapping, cramped confinement, wall position, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and water boarding” (Quigley 3). This method of interrogation is protected against international criminal prosecution. However, torture is known as the practice of inflicting “intense, cruel, inhuman, and degrading pain” (Beehner 1) and is “often used to punish, to obtain information or a confession, to take revenge on one or more people, or to create terror and fear” (Quiroga 7). Like enhanced interrogation, torture can be used to recover information. However, the purpose of using torture is not always to save lives. Although the interrogations have been stepped up, we… middle of paper… planes at Heathrow Airport and buildings in central London. Critics of the program should be asked; “Which of the attacks I just described would they prefer if we didn't stop?” (Cheney 5). All in all, enhanced interrogations can be an effective and acceptable means of gathering information that has been proven to protect the lives of U.S. citizens. Although similar in enhanced interrogation methods and information on the torture force of captured individuals, they are different because their motivations are different as is the degree of actions used. Through the CIA's enhanced interrogations, many plots against the United States and other countries have been foiled. The arguments for and against enhanced interrogation techniques boil down to the firm belief that the United States must have higher standards in interrogation methods so as not to be guilty of torture.