I’ll tell you something that we don’t usually bother telling outsiders.
You’re typically emotional about warfare. If your torture paradigm were allowed—which it isn’t again—men like myself but younger, would start killing PWs and taking affiliated, nearby civilians with them. The soldiers would grind up every living thing in their path on enemy soil, babies and dogs included. And it works both ways. But if the civilian peanut gallery wants that enough, though, it will be arranged.
Good soldiers only get very angry if their buddies are tortured and resolve to fight more efficiently afterwards (kill ‘em all). When fighting, good soldiers are not emotional at all—only efficient. For good soldiers, torturing is a waste of time. It gets in the way of killing more.
Here’s what keeps us from killing civilians at home: morality and training. We are far less likely to feel or act on any impulse to murder our own people or other innocents. That’s because killing is no mystery to us. It’s not intriguing or fascinating.
We don’t wonder about what it would be like. It’s simply imprinted more solidly in our minds that killing innocent friendlies is wrong and has no allure of mystery or the unknown. And we were cleared, so that others can be assured that we won’t have sadistic or other abnormal impulses.
Although we’re trained killers, we have a stronger, more dependable off/on switch, so to speak, than most civilians have. We’re more stable in that sense.
That’s why I call BS on the canard that soldiers commonly have “PTSD.” It’s really rare for soldiers and a much more common problem for civilians.
Torture is a loaded word. Its enhanced interrogation, in the technical sense.
But, you’re right, soldiers do not utilize enhanced interrogation. That is left for intelligence operatives and some highly trained special operations warriors.
At this time Waterboarding is illegal. But there are other means, which are just as effective as waterboarding, and those techniques will be used covertly, if national security is threatened.
The key is effectiveness when dealing people who will kill thousands at a time and potentially millions.
We only got Osama Bin Laden due to waterboarding Khalid Sheik Muhammad. It was effective. Thank God, there are violent men willing to due things, so that we all can live relatively safe lives.