Would torture be acceptable if it prevented something? Would it

[Raven]

be OK if it prevented an terrorist attack or provided valuable information about the enemy?

It seems that Cheney's argument is that torture is an acceptable practice if it saves US from something bad.

Are there any circumstances which would justify torture? I say NO but I'm not sure where they country is on this.

And...the lawyers, like Bybee, who wrote a detailed memo outlining which torture methods were OK and how intense they should be...how the hell is he trained to give such advice? He's a lawyer, not a Doctor or a Shrink. How was he even qualified to render advice on this?

Back to Cheney. He's on a slippery slope but he's a smart, diabolocal guy and he may be leading US into a hair splitting debate that will lead nowhere. The question is whether torture is EVER an acceptable practice, not, as Cheney would prefer, under what circumstances can it be used. If we lose this debate, I fear the country will lose its soul.