Whenever I hear an argument in favor of employing torture techniques by our government, I’m truly dumbfounded, because the sad truth sinks in: through the use of torture, the United States is no better than its enemies, and the fact that we’re even having a discussion about the use of torture, or having, as a country, a pro-torture policy in place, makes my head want to explode.

Fortunately, however, President Obama realized this unsettling fact, and one of his first acts as President was to suspend the torture program through an executive order issued in January of 2009. While this was a step in the right direction, there are still areas where President Obama has, sadly, continued and expanded the destructive policies of the preceding administration, including indefinite detention, drone strikes, the kill list, the signing of the NDAA, the continued operation of Guantanamo Bay, etc.