David Forsythe will speak at Kalamazoo College Tuesday night. His address is called "The United States and Torture after 9/11."
Forsythe is Charles J. Mach Distinguished Professor of Political Science Emeritus at the University of Nebraska (Lincoln). He will deliver the annual Phi Beta Kappa Visiting Scholar Lecture at 8:00 Tuesday night in the Mandelle Hall Olmstead Room at Kalamazoo College.
Forsythe, who is also the author of The Politics of Prisoner Abuse, says there is always a balance between security and issues like privacy and civil liberties. He says that tension has been constant throughout the history of the United States. But Forsythe says there was a massive shift after the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. He says that started with the Bush administration but continued after President Obama was inaugurated.
Forsythe says drone strikes have increased under the Obama administration, and he says there has been an effort to block American courts from reviewing American detention policies. But Forsythe says there has been a significant change in severe abuse of prisoners and attempting to avoid U.S. courts altogether since President Obama took office.