[GOJPN]

Torture. It is not a pretty thing. It is ugly and often, possibly inhumane. The Geneva Convention forbids it. I do not believe in it.

Now here is the problem. Let’s make it personal for you.
I have taken and am holding someone you dearly love. A person you are willing die for (some may have a problem with serious commitment like this. What or who are you willing to DIE for?).

I am in your custody.

My operatives are going to slowly and painfully rape and kill this person you love so much.

You have one hour to get me to tell you where your loved one is and how to stop the killing of this loved one.

What is your plan to get me to tell you this information?
You must obey the rules. No waterboarding, sleep deprivation, exposure to cold, humiliation, playing “Freebird” for hours on end and other nasty things.

What is your plan? The clock is ticking.

[Skooz]

I break out the blowtorch and make the guy talk.

Period.

[Lazamataz]

My operatives are going to slowly and painfully rape and kill this person you love so much. You have one hour to get me to tell you where your loved one is and how to stop the killing of this loved one. What is your plan to get me to tell you this information? You must obey the rules. No waterboarding, sleep deprivation, exposure to cold, humiliation, playing “Freebird” for hours on end and other nasty things.

I would get on the phone with your operatives, and say "I don't know who you are. I don't know what you want. If you are looking for ransom, I can tell you I don't have money. But what I do have are a very particular set of skills, skills I have acquired over a very long career. Skills that make me a nightmare for people like you. If you let my daughter go now, that'll be the end of it. I will not look for you, I will not pursue you. But if you don't, I will look for you, I will find you, and I will kill you."

[LeoWindhorse]

In this fallen world, we face a challenge from ruthless enemies whose malice knows no bounds. Alan Dershowitz, the American lawyer, has used the phrase ‘ticking bomb’ to refer to a scenario which we all devoutly wish will never occur. A terrorist group is believed to be in possession of a nuclear device. Time is desperately short, but we have captured a member of the group. In such circumstances, torture would surely be justified.

Another formidable lawyer and commentator, Sydney Kentridge, came up with a devilish refinement of the ticking bomb dilemma. We have captured a terrorist, but he is a such a hardened case that there may not be time to break him down. We have also captured his wife and children…

What a horrible problem. But it would be the height of complacent naiveté to assume that it will never require an answer from some Western leader in the course of this embattled century. My view is that if – God forbid – such a situation did arise, we would not only have the right to use torture. We would have the duty to do so.