I guess in answer to your question I have to go back to my sense of what God expects of us. I think He expects really a lot and I don't think He often gets it. The notion of our guys having, as you say, "a pretty damn good idea of who it is they have locked up" is exactly the problem. The Old Testament lays out an incredibly stringent burden of proof in legal cases--multiple eyewitnesses, etc. The Constitution echoes that. Nowhere does it say that punishment--and torture is punishment, whatever its goal--can be meted out if the arresting officer has a pretty damn good idea of who it is he has locked up. God is always watching, whether it's the dictator's henchmen or the CIA guy in an unnamed Eastern European country.
legal casesThese are not "legal cases". This is war. The winner will be around later to be nice to others (or not, in the case of the Islamofacists). The losers won't even be remembered.
and torture is punishmentWrong. Failure. Grade: F.
You don't get it.
You lose the contest.
Buzzer for you.
Trap door under your feet.
Go to the corner; put on a duncecap.
Torture to gain information from scumbags who want to kill as many innocent Americans as they possibly can is not punishment of scumbags, but protection of innocent Americans.
I'm really beginning to question your motives here.
God is always watching, whether it's the dictator's henchmen or the CIA guy in an unnamed Eastern European country.Are you a Quaker?