I may be pointing out the elephant in the room here, but I think there are more practical reasons for "torture" than garnering information.
There is a reason I won't ride the Marakesh Express, I don't want to wind up in a Turkish prison. If playing Christina Aguilera music and parading women around naked while depriving men of sleep (when did Gitmo turn into a weekend in Vegas?) makes a few murderes stop and ponder their fates if they are caught, all the better.
It's the old head-on-a-pike theory, the deterrence of perceived violence. I see nothing wrong with letting the world know that if we catch a terrorist, they aren't going to get a stay in Club Med, they are going to be punished and grilled for information.
If anyone really believes that the treatment we give these bastard makes on iota of difference to how our soldiers are treated, they need to wake up, turn off NPR, and take a peek into the real world now and then. These are evil people trying to do evil things to literally kill you and I.
We are at war, you namby pamby pinko pacifists, and war is unpleasant. Go hug a tree or save a whale and leave the real world problems to people with a backbone.
crossposted at BBA.
UPDATE: A slogan for those namby pamby pinko pacifists over at Right Wing News
