[Romulus]

Actually in this case evil would be doing nothing while terrorists kill possibly thousands of innocent people.

Not so. If you insist on a nakedly consequentialist calculus, the evil of committing torture is known, while the good of saving the innocent is only prospective. Not a good trade.

This is just one additional reason human beings are not capable of bringing good out of evil.

[smoketree]

So you then find some way to believe that sacrificing perhaps thousands of innocents is moral because people sworn to kill as many of as possible and have done so are you know are planning more attacks should be protected?
I think you have your priorites exactly backwards.
Would you waterboard a terrorist who had information that your city and everyone in it was to be nuked in a few hours?

[been_lurking]

the evil of committing torture

You suppose that torture is evil. I refuse to make that stipulation.

I propose that torture is good, under some conditions and for some recipients.