Torture Doesn't Work

Six men were facing trial yesterday before a military tribunal for involvement in the September 11 attacks. But only five will be prosecuted. The sixth? He was one of the detainees subjected to torture.

The most egregiously obvious problem with torture interrogation has always been very clear. It has little to do with showing suspected criminals mercy, or with decent living conditions, or even with cruel and unusual punishment. It is that if you subject someone to pain so that they'll give you information, they'll give you any information you want — accurate or not. Fabricating facts to get out of torture is not only a possibility — it's a likelihood. And, in a way, it just makes sense. Small wonder the Pentagon is having some trouble prosecuting those cases.