"Enhanced interrogation measures"

I should have just read the news today to get a good rant going. Here's an article about Bush's latest decision regarding the torture of alleged terrorists.

Sen. John McCain was right to oppose torture of any kind as a stain on the reputation of the United States abroad. The one thing we've attempted to maintain, in government and in popular culture for decades, is that we're the 'good guys.' Somehow, I think that seeing a real life demonstration of waterboarding, or being told that sexual abuse is now not allowed (that fact that ANYONE calling themselves a 'good guy' would see that as an acceptable means of obtaining information is beyond me) serves to undermine this reputation.

The Viet Cong could do whatever they wanted to their prisoners because they didn't need to fight a PR battle. We do. And the CIA interrogation program, which is quite small, simply isn't worth the loss in international respect and, more to the point, domestic respect for the actions of the United States.