Doesn't need to be torture to screw us

Cribbed from the Atlantic Online, which pulled it from National Journal. Clive Crook:

Harsh treatment of captives—anything that goes much beyond what we would regard as acceptable for criminal suspects, let alone torture—will harden the resolve of the country's enemies. This may not be true of the suicide bombers and other madmen and death-cultists of the jihadist cause, but it is surely true of the great majority of the less-than-pathologically committed, and of the millions more who sympathize with their cause. America needs to demoralize and deradicalize its opponents. It needs spies and defectors. On the battlefield, it needs enemies who are unafraid to surrender. Cruel treatment of prisoners conspires against all of these military and intelligence-gathering objectives. Ask yourself this: When Americans read of Al Qaeda abusing its captives, or beheading a hostage for the video cameras, does that weaken their desire to fight back?