Plus, It Doesn't Even Work!

First off, I do admit that this critique of the administration's torture methods does not completely refute the idea that pain == information. Forgive my bias in this matter, torture is so repugnant to decent human beings that we're a bit spring-loaded to consider information debunking its effectiveness.



But these experts do say that the current torture regime is probably not nearly as effective as other interrogation methods, without even considering the moral dimension, and that better alternatives exist (and were used in World War II to elicit tons of useful intelligence from captured German and even Japanese military men).



So exactly why do we continue to torture, if even a cold-blooded cost/benefit analysis shows that it pays off in neither the short run (better intelligence) nor the long (America's standing in the world, treatment of captured U.S. soldiers)?



Plus it's wrong. Even if it worked, it'd be wrong. Are we America, or merely Rome with better weapons?



New York Times article

PDF of original report