Should there be procedures permissible only where there is an imminent danger? Might less harsh but still coercive techniques – inflicting what is called “stress and duress” – be allowed when interrogating a “high-value” suspect, for example someone who knows where Osama bin Laden is hiding? A third set of rules could govern the questioning of enemy combatants held for long periods at places like Gitmo – where, at this moment, lawyers and Red Cross representative are present, interrogation rooms include lounge chairs, and detainees may decline to be interrogated at all.  

Should the President be required to authorize “enhanced” interrogations”? Could Congress perform oversight? Would it be useful to set up a National Security Court for this and related purposes?  

I also wonder: How much must we tell al-Qaeda and other terrorists about what to expect? If terrorists know they may be waterboarded, they will prepare themselves to withstand the ordeal. In fact, waterboarding has been used to train and toughen American commandoes and spies.  

Dan and Stephanie, please take note: Torture is generally defined as the intentional infliction of “pain and suffering” so “severe” that it “shocks the conscience.” That clearly includes gouging out eyes and prying off fingernails. Does it rule out any and all techniques designed to make a terrorist feel alone, abandoned, vulnerable and dependent on his captors? Does an unlawful combatant – one who flagrantly and routinely violates the most fundamental laws of war – deserve the same respectful treatment as a soldier who has fought honorably?  

It has been widely reported that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed was subjected to waterboarding and, as a result, he surrendered intelligence that led to the foiling of terrorist plots and the saving of innocent lives. Do you regret that? Would you tell those sworn to protect and defend Americans never to do it again – accepting the consequences of that policy?  

We won’t be able to answer such difficult questions unless the moral posturing and partisan maneuvering stop, and a serious debate begins.