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David Adesnik, a research analyst in Washington DC, received his doctorate in international relations from Oxford.
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How Appealing
# Posted 12:41 AM by Ariel David Adesnik 
How will you explain to the families of Americans killed in future terror attacks that their loved ones died because this country did not use all of the tools at its disposal - in large part because of your opposition - to learn of the attack in advance?In defense of Andrew and the WaPo, I think I should point out that they are not categorically against torture, but against the irresponsible way in which the Bush Administration has dealt with the issue, both ex ante and ex post.
On the other hand, OxBlog was pretty categorical. Then again, it was a one-line post. So let me clarify: I recognize that there are certain extreme situations in which torture is justified. If a terrorist knows that a chemical warhead is about to explode in downtown Baghdad, then the gloves come off.
But in general, I think is premature to say either that torture is an efficient method of interrogation or that it is the only method. Moreover, the negative repercussions of torture in terms of both domestic and foreign opinion are so great that we can only afford to use it as a method of last resort. (0) opinions -- Add your opinion
