Should Waterboarding be used in interrogation

I am not sure why you would think that Timothy Noah's article referenced above, to support the fact that the waterboarding of KSM was a futile waste, is "crazy." It is well documented and coherent in its analysis of the timeline surrounding the Library Tower Plot and the torture of KSM. It is also supported by the Bush Administration Archive document that I provided in Tandem. I do not think that the Author was suggesting that the water wasted was more important than the human suffering caused by torture. Here is the exact quote from the article: "If foiling the Library Tower plot was the reason to water-board Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, then that water-boarding was more than cruel and unjust. It was a waste of water." If I may be so bold as to provide my interpretation of this statement it is as follows: The waterboarding of KSM was not instrumental nor even helpful in the foiling of the Library Tower plot, which means that it amounted to nothing more than government sanctioned cruelty and wasted water in the process. I am well aware of Admiral Blair's claims regarding the "High Value" information that was allegedly obtained. They are nearly identical to claims made by several other high ranking officials from the Bush Administration in 2003-2005 when the program was in full swing. By 2009, the program was offically ended, and still to this day the government has yet to produce one shred of evidence that the data gathered as a result of torture saved even a single American life. I understand that there are valid reasons for state secrecy. They are few, but they do exist. Hiding mistakes and crimes from the people is not one of them. 'Saving face' and avoiding embarrassment are not good reasons either. It is unacceptable for the government, while hiding behind 'national security' and producing no evidence, to make fantastic claims that they have some how found the secret to making torture an effective technique for interrogation, when no one else throughout all of the history of human civilization has been able to do so. Not the Nazis, not the Inquisition, not the Stalinists, not the Maoists, not the Khmer Rouge, not Vlad the Impaler, not the Roman Ceasars, not Pinochet, not Batiste, not Castro, not Kim Jung Un, not any of the petty little psychopathic warlords, kings, and dictators from the present day all the way back to the dawn of civilization could ever make it effective for the purposes of interrogation. And, good lord, did they ever try. All of them always make the same pathetic excuse: 'We have to do it to protect you. We promise we will only do this to really bad people, and only when necessary to protect you and save souls." It has always been a lie, and it is still a lie today. Here I will rest my case on the question of effectiveness. If you still have a question as to the effectiveness I would urge you to again read the article above by FBI Special Agent Ali H Soufan in my round 2 post. It is a concise and crystal clear report from a true expert. So here is my final analysis for the purposes of this debate: There is 0 evidence to uphold the effectiveness of waterboarding, or any other form of torture, for the purposes of interrogation. Qualitative evidence from reliable, expert sources indicate that it is counterproductive to the overall interrogation process. "------>Therefore, waterboarding should not be used in interrogation. I will take just one more moment of your time to attempt the clarify the role of psychopathy since there seems to be some confusion around my position in this regard. When I refer to those psychopaths that are the torturer, I am not necessarily saying that the person pouring the water over the subjects face must have psychopathic tendencies. I think it is probably likely that most of them do because the CIA and Military are excellent at psychological profiling and would be capable of placing that type of person in the job role. There is another kind of person who would also do the job, and that would be someone who could be completely convinced, without independent thought, in the necessity of the work. This second type of person may not be psychopathic themselves, and if they are not would most likely suffer great emotional trauma as a result of the experience regardless of their belief in it's necessity. This type of person would require the direction and oversight of a true psychopath in order to ensure that their empathy remains suppressed while they conduct torture. In fact it would require psychopathy and domination of normal people by psychopathic individuals at several points within the decision tree to commit torture, all the way up to the very highest strata of government, and not just down in the actual interrogation room. In fact it comes right back to our own living rooms. WE are the normal people I am refering to, not the subjects like KSM who is most likely also pyschopathic. WE are ultimately the ones who the psychopaths must deceive and dominate in order in order conduct atrocities of any kind. It becomes a vicious cycle of: Atrocity by Psychopath----->Fear within the Normal People------->Deception and domination of the now vulnerable normal people by Psychopath------->Atrocity by Psychopath..........etc ad nauseum. The essential or pure psychopath is the only true predator of humanity. What really gets to me; what really breaks my heart, is that now because our own gullibility and our own shameful inability to stop it in time, the United States of America has been added to the atrocious list state sanctioned torturers I mentioned above. The United States of America is supposed to be sacred! We the people are never supposed to act so afraid that we turn over our rights, our values, and our sacred honor! So now I leave you with this final question: If it is possible to redeem ourselves, would not the first step be to acknowledge our collective failure to break the psychopathic cycle of fear and domination and resolve to not let it happen again? Thank you for taking the time to engage in this important debate. You have been an excellent opponent and have defended your position with integrity and class. I have enjoyed this debate and the time that we have shared, though we have never met, thinking together about this truly profound topic. I have learned much through the process of this debate and for that I am grateful to you. Godspeed.