>>Sure, tickle his feet all you want, but don't start ripping out his nails. The truth is that torture has been shown over and over to be an unreliable method of obtaining valid information. It says more about the torturer than the victim afaic.
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>Of course you're right. I do, however, see parallels to the moral absolutism that invades the anti-terrorism debate and that found in issues of reproduction.
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>It would seem anti-abortion sentiment should be quite pro contraception. But the same token, anti-torture advocates should encourage wire-tapping and other non-violent means of obtaining the information otherwise to be extracted by force. No?

Here's a no to that one for sure. It sounds like "If you let us wiretap illegally and otherwise infringe your privacy rights, (maybe) we won't torture suspects." Like we have to agree with one or the other. (Which do you want to make legal, burglary or drug smuggling?) To me the answer is neither.