Like it or not, torture has been used by all sides in various wars. We used it in World War II (including the aftermath) and Vietnam, although unofficially, as did the Japanese, the North Koreans, the North Vietnamese officially and the Germans unofficially. We used it to a massive extent in suppressing the Philippine insurrection. The British used it against us in the Revolution, and in the Indian Wars, both sides used it. War may be necessary, but it is never noble.
The Bush administration should have done what Western ranchers do when their livestock are threatened by predators on the endangered species list: shoot, shovel, and shut up.