Torture is one of those things that we would want to believe that we would never use or never have use. Unfortunately, the world is not so accommodating.

It is the kind of think we should flinch at and be made sick by the thought of it, but we should also be fearful of being so unsure of our own right to exist that we would forswear it in all circumstances.

It would be monstrous to be easy and caviler with its use. It would be foolhardy to believe that we would never be confronted with instances where its use could be justified.

That this subject is now a political football risks our being able to ever use it. The danger is real. The world is not a safe place.