Whether he intended to or not, at a town meeting in Iowa last night Rudy Giuliani offered what may be the most honest defense of torture I've seen from an American politician. It is also, of course, a deeply immoral one. Asked whether waterboarding constituted torture, he replied:
It depends on how it’s done. It depends on the circumstances. It depends on who does it. [emphasis mine]
What the United States is doing isn't torture because it's the United States doing it. I suspect this is the way a lot of torture apologists feel, but give Giuliani credit for being (I think) the first to come out and say it.
--Christopher Orr
Update: I see the ever-nimble Alex Massie beat me to exactly this point.
Update Update: This post has been widely linked to (thanks, Andrew), and more than a few people have missed that the praise I offer Giuliani is entirely ironic. The key word here is not "honest" or "credit," but "immoral."