Misguided questions on torture

A column in the Washington Post today presents a scenario based on the idea that torture works, and asks the following questions:

Does it sometimes work? Does it never work? Is it always immoral? What
about torture that saves lives? What if it saves many lives? What if one of
those lives is your child’s?

These in fact are not unanswerable questions. Human Rights First has been working with a group of intelligence experts who all confirm that torture doesn’t work. And it’s illegal. In a meeting organized by Human Rights First last summer, this distinguished group of professionals issued a statement of principles that exposes the reality behind this debate.