all i can see since i agree with everything you ve said is to draw the following analogy that was posed for me in college:
if you had arrested a terrorist would you torture her/him to save the lives of innocents who might be caught in her/his bomb?
to me its a straightforward no because torture one person and that slippery slope. you re trusting the opinion of the people hired by the person in power placed there by some particular elected official. too many degrees of control for me by far. torture sucks in general. nevermind the mess that can be made of it by individuals charged with dealing with it.