The Ethics of Torture

Torture is a practice as old as time and has been innovated and perfected into a sadistic art form over the years. It is easy to say torture is wrong and that it should be banned from the interrogation process, but is that realistic? The saying "all is fair in love and war" applies in this discussion. What if America decided that they would ban torture, would that convince our enemies to ban it as well? Probably not.
It is necessary to remember that torture does not always lead to an execution. It is a means to aquire information that is important for our safety. If our enimies have vital intel that would save thousands of American lives, torture may be necessary to retrieve it.
If there was a way to gauruntee that all forms of torture would banned from any further conflicts, of course I would be in favor. Unfortunately, this is the real world and there is no way to assure that everyone will play by the rules. Until the day mankind begins to treat each other with respect, I will support all forms of torture.