The return of well-timed suspense

So 24 has come back, and I'm excited. It's about the only non-comedy TV show that I follow. This season looks pretty good so far.

But it seems like they just don't want to let go of the subject of torture. And it gets me thinking. I understand both sides of the argument. Some situations call for drastic measures. At the same time, torture can produce false positives, ie, the interegation subject just saying what the interegators want just to get them to stop. And there are certain civil rights issues. But I understand where people are coming from when they argue that some of these people that we may torture have forfeited any civil rights.

One thing that I certainly do not agree with is extending Constitutional rights to detainees who are not American citizens. The Constitution is for Americans. Now, can we argue that these people have basic human rights? Yes. But they have no Constitutional rights. If they are in any way responsible for acts of terrorism against innocent civilians, I don't see any reason to go to any extreme lengths to make sure that they are all nice and comfy.

I'm still on the fence about the issue because of what I mentioned before. But I do think that some people who are against torture dismiss the issue too quickly. I can totally understand the thinking of people who are in favour of its use, and of those who actually use it.

Just think about this situation. You have this prisoner and you know that he is hiding information about an attack that could cost thousands of lives, and he's not talking. You also know that there are people who are close to you who are in danger. You know that torturing is wrong. But time is running out, and you know some very good ways of inflicting non-lethal pain on this person. No cameras, no one who would punish you will know about it. What would you do?

I'm just trying not to be so quick to judge people. We are all people, after all. We are all capable of doing the same horrible things.