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To a larger degree than you might suspect, I agree with you Erik, but if you can do something 80 times, it can't be particularly harmful, at least physically, and since the claim is that it did not work, then that argues that it is not particularly harmful mentally either. Additionally, the effectiveness of the so called torture might be influenced by the fact that the prospect of anticipatory death means little to a terrorist that thinks he/she will be martyred when they die.
Another point to consider: is the mere possibility that something worse than waterboarding, or any of the techniques this FBI agent claims worked, could and might be used be a factor in a detainee's choice to "spill the beans?" Of course, now that we have everything on the table thanks to Obama, everyone knows that the Monty Pythonesque "comfy chair" (for the uninitiated, please see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CSe38dzJYkY) will be the worst we will be allowed to do to a suspect, and the terrorists will prepare accordingly.
Although it would not satisfy his liberal base, would it not have been more prudent to perhaps stop the practice of whatever you might deem torture without making it public? If the terrorists merely assume that bad things akin to what they do might happen to them, they might be more cooperative.
Lastly, was the FBI doing any real "torture?" Isn't that the province of the CIA?
Any thoughts on drugs or hypnotism?
Apparently the FBI was carrying out effective interrogation, and the CIA was doing the torture. Strapping someone to a wall for a week and depriving them of sleep is torture and I would imagine largely ineffective in gathering intelligence.
I don't know of any drugs that could be used but I never researched it. People lie in hypnosis all the time so inducing hypnosis for interrogation would not be effective. However in interrogator would employ NLP techniques to manipulate their subject which includes hypnosis.