Here’s the truth: Torture, per se, doesn’t work. When you inflict enough pain, most people say whatever they need to say in order to make it stop, while those strong enough to resist it die without telling anything true.
First, we need to stop telling the lie that torture doesn't work, because it does, and it works very well. If it didn't, it would not be used. Second, the person has not yet been born who is strong enough to resist torture. If you know the truth, there are certain things that can be done to your body to make you tell it, and tell it quickly. That is a fact. Torture is something to fear and avoid, but certainly not because it doesn't work. I would love the opportunity to show one of these "torture doesn't work" crowd how in five minutes with a trained operator, they would be wishing death before a second round of what they might experience.
I generally agree with on this one more than with OSC. But for the sake of argument, what should be said is that the problem is not that you'd get too little info from the subject, but too much. And when you can't verify it, too much info can be as bad. How to tell where is the truth and where is simple desire for you to stop the pain? What if there are multiple layers of the truth?
It may be that with our society aversion to torture, we simply don't have specialists good enough to tell.
OK, my two cents. I agree with this article and author with the premise that torture does not work on a general basis. Are there certain, and very few, situations where torture can work; yes, but not as a rule. Can you make someone talk after applying enough pain? Yes, but it's the accuracy of the information that is important during questioning. Under physical duress, everyone will try anything to make the pain stop. They will use whatever information they have at hand, usually taking a queue from their interrogator, as to what information they are looking for. That does not, however, provide the interrogator with the right information. Using mental duress is far more successful, both in military and law enforcement questioning in obtaining the correct and verifiable information. While physical torture will certainly gain you information in a shorter period of time, mental duress will readily give the correct information with enough time.