"The Army Field Manual, The Torture Scandal, and The Intelligence Scandal"

Rolling Stone:

Thanks to reader Ancon for digging up what should have been in a box on the front page of every newspaper the day Bush proposed rewriting the Geneva Conventions:

I would simply like to quote the Army Field Manual here, which I think summarizes how this works in reality quite well:

“The use of force, mental torture, threats, insults, or exposure to unpleasant and inhumane treatment of any kind is prohibited by law and is neither authorized nor condoned by the US Government. Experience indicates that the use of force is not necessary to gain the cooperation of sources for interrogation. Therefore, the use of force is a poor technique, as it yields unreliable results, may damage subsequent collection efforts, and can induce the source to say whatever he thinks the interrogator wants to hear.”