re: #31 Killgore Trout

OK, I have skimmed the pdf-which at over 300 pages I’m not going to even try to read all of.
It is a group of papers (mercifully, with abstracts highlighted in green) dealing with various aspects of interrogation. As you note, there is a paper (#10) dealing with the lack of studies that have been done. It lays out eminently reasonable suggestions for research. However, the paper is dated 2005 and perhaps 6 years on, we have learned something. 2006 study for example.

There is nothing that I found in any of the papers that suggests the efficacy of torture, and some suggestions that it is counterproductive. Paper #5 which starts on page 95 (numbered 128 in the side bar-the numbers are off through the entire document) deals with the CIA interrogation manual, and even they apparently thought the infliction of physical pain wasn’t a good way to go about things.
Once again, this isn’t supported by any research, but the only real support I find in print for the efficacy of torture is provided by people who were torturers. Since any even moderately normal human being who is a torturer must need to find a really convincing rationale for doing something so horrible, it is not surprising that they would want to believe it was necessary and effective.