Security threats generate incentives to rationalize torture as legally defensible.

Evidence

In the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, conflicts arose among some counterterrorist practices, moral principles, and international laws. The U.S. administration believed that painful interrogation procedures would force detainees to divulge valuable information about al Qaeda operations. The war on terror generated a strong incentive to justify such practices as legally defensible and vital to safeguarding national security against an ominous threat. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2395

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2395