Should civilized nations use "Enhanced Interrogation" techni

[kandrathe]

I came across this article in the Times online.

"The 45-minute tape shows a man that the Government of Abu Dhabi has acknowledged is Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan — one of 22 royal brothers of the UAE President and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince — mercilessly and repeatedly beating a man with a cattle prod and a nailed board, burning his genitals and driving his Mercedes over him several times. He is assisted by a uniformed policeman."

So, after reading some of the reader comments as well I noted a few things. Not all "Torture" is equal, and not all "Reasons for Torture" are equal. When you are in fear of a terrorist plot that is in play that might take thousands or hundreds of thousands of lives, and you use something fear inducing, like water boarding, it is not akin to burning someones genitals because you think they cheated you in a grain deal. The contrast of barbarity is ironic to me. I don't want to be an apologist for the excesses of the Bush administration, but the people who we mostly made "extremely uncomfortable" are the same ones who would have happily sliced my head off and posted the film on the internet for merely being an American.

My personal opinion on torture is torn; On the one hand, I don't want to hamstring our ability to prevent serious catastrophes. So, that part of me thinks that it might in the most dire and life threatening cases might be contemplated, approved by the CIC, and then only after all other methods have been exhausted and you are pretty certain that you would get actionable results. On the other hand, my fear is that I don't want to give any level of government this power, because pretty soon you'll see it used on citizens for any reason in the local jails.