Jack Bauer won't save anyone

When it comes to people talking tough on terror, no talking point gets as much play as this one:

We have a terrorist in custody
We know an attack will occur within a matter of days
We know this terrorist knows where and when the attack will happen
Lives are at stake

Ergo: we must torture. It's what Jack Bauer would do

Over and over – this gets trotted out as a counter to moral concerns. "We have to do this, even though under normal circumstances it is morally repulsive."

(And aren't we noble for being willing to do this?)

That's the argument. It's immoral, but it works – and so we must torture.

Except that's crap.

I'll parrot Olbermann and say let's set aside the morality question-

I'd also set aside:

• The improbability that you will know an attack is imminent. How many warnings have we been given that were bunk?
• The improbability that you will know your prisoner has the information you want. More likely you'll hope they have the info.
• The "they'll say anything" paradox. Beat them hard enough and they'll tell you they bombed Pearl Harbor.

Even with those items off the table – the notion that a terrorist in custody who has the information will provide it if tortured is just laughable on its face.

Put yourself in that cell.
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You're the bad guy. Willing to die – so long as you get to kill.
You know that a bomb is going off in three days – when, where and how.
You are being tortured.

Escape is impossible – Killing your captors is impossible.

So, how do you win?

By not telling them what they want to know for three days.

Die, lie – whatever it takes, all you have to do is hold out until you know it's too late for them to do anything.

Any story you give them will have to be followed up on – which takes time. You build a convincing narrative and they'll have to stop torturing you just to record it. Then they'll waste time finding out if anything checks out.

You string them along until the bomb goes off and whether or not they torture you, they still lose.

If the timeline compresses, that's even better for you. You can steel yourself for a few hours – and your delaying lies will be that much more effective.

Your real enemy is time. The longer they have to work on you, the more they can disorient you – make you think that three days have passed – that the attack happened, that you're free to talk.

That's the worry – that's how a real interrogator is going to get you to crack. Not by beating your body, but by manipulating your mind.
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That scenario where the bomb is ticking is a rhetorical construction – but even if it weren't, you're not going to get the Hollywood ending. If it's down to hours, and our hopes are pinned to scaring a fanatic into doing the right thing- we've pretty much lost.

Oh you can try torture, if it makes you feel better – but when the bomb goes off anyway, you'll realize you made yourself a monster for nothing.