Why does America need Secret Prisons?

[richlevy]

Of course what happens when you use waterboarding on someone who really doesn't know anything, and at what point do you believe them and stop it?

I think a lot of people who travel abroad in countries with below par civil rights have at some point thought about what would happen if they were falsely accused of a serious crime there. Movies from Midnight Express to Red Square have played up this scenario (yes in Midnight Express the guy was guility). We have already executed Mexican citizens in the US without allowing them to contact their consulate.

If we allow waterboarding of prisoners, we are stating that for certain heinous crimes it is allowable. We might limit it to unlawful combatants, but by allowing it we are declaring it a legitimate interrogation tool.