The utility of torture.

Editor,

Anyone who thinks that torture is a good idea, including Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleezza Rice, George Bush, John Yoo, Jay Bybee, Ricardo Sanchez, and anyone else in the American chain of command who attributes the killing of bin Laden to the efficacy of torture must read "A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror," by Alfred McCoy.

Self-evident, tough-guy common knowledge amounts to a set of beliefs that do not correspond to reality, besmirch the reputation of the United States, and undermine the rule of law.

Note that President Obama did not attribute success in locating bin Laden to the utility of torture.

Re: "Cool Hand Barack" (5/4/2011)