[OneWingedShark]

I'll stand on the contention that none of the things I've heard qualify as torture...to me.
Cold, dark rooms. Loud music. Sleep deprivation. Diet manipulation. Not torture.
And neither is waterboarding -- because there is no physical injury or maiming. Nor any risk of death...only a perception of one.
Words mean things. And my definition of "torture" requires physical injury or deprivation.

I'd agree that most of those aren't torture; actually there's only one that I'm undecided/unconvinced on — I'm still undecided on waterboarding (I never experienced it myself), but it would be untrue to say that it isn't depriving one of something, even something physical, that is needed for life: air. (Albeit for a limited and controlled time.)

But this does lead to another question: must it be torture to be cruel and unusual?

[okie01]

But this does lead to another question: must it be torture to be “cruel and unusual”?

Legitimate question.

Again, words mean things. And I would imagine that the terms are not mutually exclusive.