[maroonblazer]

Maybe, but consider: instead of someone like the person in the article, the perpetrator is a member of a radical fundamentalist organization who believes that death is better than life and is not so put off by the prospect of some discomfort, at least in theory. It's conceivable that once theory is put into practice he might rethink his position.

[aaronbrethorst]

That's completely, verifiably wrong.

    The Senate report has a revealing passage saying that
    the statement of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed ("KSM")
    "during his first day in CIA custody included an
    accurate description of a Pakistani/British operative,
    which was dismissed as having been provided during the
    initial 'throwaway stage' of information collection
    when the CIA believed detainees provided false or
    worthless information". KSM was later water-boarded
    (simulated drowning) 183 times, leading him to make
    frequent confessions that later turned out to be false.
    Another section of the report says that "KSM fabrications
    led the CIA to capture and detain suspected terrorists
    who were later found to be innocent".

http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/torture-it-didnt...