Torture should never be used, most Americans say (new WAPO/ABC poll)

[nodramamama]

58% of Americans support Barack Obama's position to ban torture in all circumstances, while 40% leave room open to use it in some circumstances. 71% of Democrats, 56% of Indies, and 42% of Republicans oppose torture no matter the circumstances.

There is an almost even split with regard to conducting investigations into the illegality of interrogation measures during the Bush administration: 50% in support, 47% against, with 69% of Democrats in favor and 69% of Republicans against such investigations.
http://voices.washingtonpost.com/behind-the-numbers/2009/01/on_torture.html

If we keep up the pressure, I may add, I believe the numbers will grow in favor of accountability.

[Lyric]

1. Anybody supporting torture--ANYBODY--is not only cruel, but also logically foolish.

Information gleaned from torture simply cannot be trusted. Who wouldn't do or say ANYTHING to get a torturer to stop, even if only in the short-term? From our warm, comfortable seats behind our keyboards, we can say things like, "Well obviously they'd tell the truth, because they know that if they lie, they'll be tortured again as soon as the lie is found out!" But that is not good reasoning. A more realistic presumption is that long-term reasoning is pretty much thrown out the window when a person is being tortured. All they know is that it hurts NOW, and therefore they will say/do ANYTHING to make the pain stop NOW. The threat of later torture pales in comparison to the pain being immediately felt. They will tell their interrogators what they want to hear, truth be damned, because it makes the pain stop in the short-term.

I cannot believe that 29% of Democrats think that torture is even occasionally a good tactic. Just fucking sickening.