No, really. I believe that the advantages of the absolute high road against torture far and away outweigh any potential benefit. I could, and there will be books written about this, but the bottom line is that torture is expressly forbidden by our Constitution and by the Geneva Convention. The United States Government should not condone or allow it and should not in anyway attempt to get around the law to allow it.
One- the chance of you getting any useable information is nil. Just like us, they have operational security and they know when someone with vital information gets picked up and minimize their vulnerability when that happens. I was trained to try--try--and not give out any information for 24 hours--by then everything I know has changed.
Two- As has been repeatedly shown, a person being tortured will tell you anything you want to hear. It is a totally self licking ice cream cone--and we do that well enough with our own sources.
Three-Too many people have died defending a document that says "no cruel or unusual"
Four- Regardless of whether the enemy treats our people nicely, if we torture it sets a really really bad precedent that we will not be able to back away from.
So, "Tom, what happens if you know that the guy you have knows where the bomb is that is going to kill your children/wipeout the city etc--gonna just let him smile at you?" No, if I am boxed in like that, I am going to torture the rap out of him, but I am not going to expect it to work and I am going to expect to go to prison--and would plead guilty--for a long time.
so that is sorta what I think-- :)