COMPLETE ALL QUESTIONS AND MARGIN NOTES

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1 Instructions: COMPLETE ALL QUESTIONS AND MARGIN NOTES using the CLOSE reading strategies practiced in class. This requires reading of the article three times. Step 1: Skim the article using these symbols as you read: (+) agree, (-) disagree, (*) important, (!) surprising, (?) wondering Step 2: Number the paragraphs. Read the article carefully and make notes in the margin. Notes should include: o Comments that show that you understand the article. (A summary or statement of the main idea of important sections may serve this purpose.) o Questions you have that show what you are wondering about as you read. o Notes that identify facts and opinions. o Observations about how the writer s techniques (organization, word choice, perspective, support) and choices affect the article. o Text structure o Author s purpose Step 3: A final quick read noting anything you may have missed during the first two reads. Your margin notes are part of your score for this assessment. Answer the questions carefully in complete sentences unless otherwise instructed. Student Class Period PRO: Report gives extremists a rallying cry WASHINGTON Though they preside over the world s most important nation, our leaders in Washington can be shockingly oblivious to the people beyond our shores. Other nations and extremists in those nations watch and listen closely to whatever we say or do. That s the only logical explanation for why Senate Intelligence Committee Democrats released such a graphic report 13 years after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, It details the CIA s enhanced interrogation methods in the frightening days, weeks and months after that fateful day. With its provocative detail splashed across the TV screens, front pages and websites of our media, the report will undoubtedly endanger American lives. It gives extremists one more rallying cry to attack U.S. interests and strengthen their recruiting efforts. It also forces other governments and intelligence services to show that they re keeping their distance from Uncle Sam. Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I read: The structure of this text is: What is the author s claim in this argument? Unsavory Methods Were Known To be clear, the report was revealing only in its raw detail of CIA activities against particular detainees. We ve known for many years that the CIA used unsavory methods. In fact, news surfaced years ago that the CIA deprived suspects of sleep, chained them to walls, threatened them with gruesome death and so on. At the time, government officials, opinion leaders and the broad public began a serious national debate over whether the United States should ever torture. Some facts and opinions from this story are (label facts with F and opinions with an O ):

2 With a few exceptions, we even reached a general agreement that we should avoid anything that smacks of torture and consider employing it only in the most extreme cases. An obvious situation is when the United States faces the immediate threat of an attack that could kill hundreds, if not thousands, of people. Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I read: That s all fine years after the fact. Yet, as the Senate Intelligence Committee Chair Diane Feinstein acknowledged in the report, the days after Sept. 11 were ones of overwhelming fear that much greater attacks were coming. In fact, Feinstein noted that, after Sept. 11, the CIA was encouraged by political leaders and the public to do whatever it could to prevent another attack. She went on to say that the Intelligence Committee as well often pushes intelligence agencies to act quickly in response to threats and world events. That, by the way, is no different than how our nation s leaders have behaved at other perilous times. During the Civil War, for instance, President Abraham Lincoln suspended the writ of habeas corpus, which prevents Americans from being unlawfully imprisoned. What later seems horrifying often seems vital at the time. A summary of this article is: Allies May Hesitate Helping U.S. Feinstein says that she hopes the report will serve as a warning for the future. She hopes it will ensure that, even when facing national security perils, the United States never again abandons its values. Now, the extremists of al-qaida, Islamic State and other dangerous groups who plot every day to attack America will have one more rallying cry and recruiting tool. That means more extremists with more motivation to plot and launch more attacks against more Americans. Now, governments and intelligence agencies with which Washington has worked regularly, whether in Europe, the Middle East, or elsewhere, will hesitate before working too closely with the United States. That means less intelligence information from around the world will flow to Washington. Less information leaves us more open to plots, because our intelligence services need that information to prevent attacks. This article relates to me, someone I know, or the world I live in BECAUSE: America debated torture long ago. Rather than advance that debate, the committee s report is just making American deaths more likely. ABOUT THE WRITER: Lawrence J. Haas, a former communications director for Vice President Al Gore, is a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council. Readers may write him at AFPC, th Street NW, Washington, DC This essay is available to McClatchy and Tribune News Service subscribers. McClatchy and TNS did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of McClatchy, TNS or Newsela.

3 CON: U.S. had to come clean by releasing report Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I read: COLUMBUS, Ohio The Senate Intelligence Committee s release of its report on CIA torture is a welcome step toward transparency. The methods used to wage the war on terror are of great interest to the public. Despite gruesome details included in the report about what was done to detainees, the release is not likely to lead to any immediate increased risk to Americans. It is no secret that the CIA used techniques amounting to torture in its interrogations after Sept. 11, What has raised the number of those inclined to cause harm to Americans is the torture itself, not its description in the Senate report. The Case Of Zubaydah The interrogation methods had already been called torture by courts and international organizations. Last summer, the European Court of Human Rights ordered Poland to pay monetary damages to Abu Zubaydah. He was captured in Pakistan in 2002 and believed to be a member of al-qaida, the group behind the Sept. 11 attacks. He was tortured in Poland at a black site the Polish government let the CIA use. The court found that the methods used against Zubaydah were torture as it is defined by international law. The court found Poland also responsible in the torture committed by the CIA. In the case of Zubaydah, harsh tactics including waterboarding which creates the feeling of drowning were used. Yet, the Senate report says it did not result in any significant information from him. The United States has also been criticized by the U.N. Committee Against Torture. It monitors the Convention Against Torture, which we signed and are supposed to obey. What is the claim in this argument? What was the author s purpose for each of these articles? In other words, why do you think someone took time to write this story? What the Senate Intelligence Committee report confirmed, although in greater detail, is only what other groups have already found. What matters more to people in the rest of the world is our actions, not this new report. New Generation Of Extremists The torture was part of an overreaction to Sept. 11 that included the mistake of invading Afghanistan. Instead of dealing with Afghanistan's government to capture those responsible for the attacks in New York, we took over the country. Now we are trying to remove ourselves from Afghanistan. But we're leaving the country unstable, which is what let al-qaida operate there to begin with. The CIA torture was carried out, moreover, not only to discover threats from al-qaida, but to prove that al-qaida and Iraq were working together. We used this as an excuse to invade Iraq, but no such proof was ever found.

4 It is all these actions taken together that make us a target for a new generation of extremists. Not surprisingly, our actions are interpreted as arrogance. Our continuing position in the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians does not help. Even today, we stand practically alone in refusing to acknowledge Palestine as its own nation, and in protecting Israel in the U.N. Security Council. Notes on my thoughts, reactions and questions as I read: It made sense to come clean on torture, in part because torture is a crime under U.S. law. The U.S. signed onto the Convention Against Torture, making torture committed anywhere in the world a crime. A Constitutional Responsibility Charles Taylor, son of the former Liberian president of the same name, is currently serving a 97-year sentence in an American prison. He orchestrated torture in Liberia when he headed a government anti-terrorism unit under his father. Despite the crime taking place in another country, international law means he could be imprisoned here. Regardless of whether any American official is prosecuted, the Senate had to release this report about torture. It has a Constitutional responsibility in overseeing the actions of presidents, even if these actions happened in the past. In the long term, the safety of the United States will depend on how we deal with all our international issues, not just this one. ABOUT THE WRITER: John B. Quigley is a distinguished professor of law at The Ohio State University. Readers may write to him at Moritz College of Law, 55 West 12th St., Columbus, Ohio This essay is available to McClatchy and Tribune News Service subscribers. McClatchy and TNS did not subsidize the writing of this column; the opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of McClatchy, TNS or Newsela.

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6 1. Comprehension questions answers MUST BE in complete sentences. 1. In the PRO article Report gives extremists a rallying cry what does the author say about the release of such a violent report? 2. When an author is trying to express his or her opinion on a topic, they often use loaded words that express emotion. Find five loaded words in the PRO article? 3. Citing word for word from the text, what does the article Report gives extremists a rallying cry actually REVEAL? Is this information new? 4. What other historical event does the author refer to as being handled in a similar manner as this one? Why? 5. What does Feinstein hope that the report will do? Why is this important? 2. YOU MUST answer each question in one or more complete sentences. 1. In the CON article US had to come clean about releasing report, what does the author say about the Senate Intelligence Committee s release of the report? 2. Give an example of an interrogation method that was used by the CIA that was considered torture. Did it work? 3. What law did the U.S. sign onto with the United Nations? 4. According to the article, why was CIA torture carried out? 5. Ultimately, why does the author believe that the Senate had to release the report about torture?

7 3. Part I: In one COMPLETE sentence, summarize the PRO point of view/perspective. Part II: In one COMPLETE sentence, summarize the CON point of view/perspective. 4. Part I: Read the claim by the PRO author. It also forces other governments and intelligence services to show that they re keeping their distance from Uncle Sam. Locate an argument or evidence given by the CON author in the text that suggests that this claim is either not relevant or not true (write it below). Part II: Read the claim by the PRO author. Despite gruesome details included in the report about what was done to detainees, the release is not likely to lead to any immediate increased risk to Americans..Locate an argument or evidence given by the CON author in the text that suggests that this claim is either not relevant or not true (write it below).

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