CNN did a poll recently, angling for views re: the use of water-boarding.  The result was, well…awkward:

A majority of Americans consider waterboarding a form of torture, but some of those say it’s OK for the U.S. government to use the technique, according to a poll released Tuesday.

Asked whether they think waterboarding is a form of torture, more than two-thirds of respondents, or 69 percent, said yes; 29 percent said no.

Asked whether they think the U.S. government should be allowed to use the procedure to try to get information from terrorists, 58 percent said no; 40 percent said yes.

So, with the overlap in responses, that means some people acknowledge that water-boarding is torture AND think it should be embraced as a tactic.  They’re willing for the US to toss any claim whatsoever to moral high ground, radicalize even more people, and probably end up being fed false info just so the agony would stop.  I disagree about as strongly as one can, but at least they’re honest.

Oh, wait a minute, I forgot something.   Here’s that last line of the excerpt again:

Asked whether they think the U.S. government should be allowed to use the procedure to try to get information from suspected terrorists, 58 percent said no; 40 percent said yes. (emphasis mine)

“Suspected”.  That means they’re thought to be terrorists, which they may or may not be.  The possibility of innocence is fast becoming a quaint concept these days, as if simply being held by the government means you’re guilty and deserve everything you get.  Who do we have to thank for that?  Clearly the overlap group in the poll, the reactionary nutjobs with delusions of “hippie unamerican commie libruls” in their head, believing anyone who’s anti water-boarding thinks if Bin Laden himself were captured he should be given a cup of coffee & a comfortable chair to sit in for a cozy little chat.