The Battle of Algiers

I listened to the NPR audio review of The Battle of Algiers. I think Kenneth Turan accurately describes the Battle of Algiers as amazingly realistic. He talks about how the movie is respected by both ends of the political spectrum, which is a great accompishment in my opionon. In listening to this review of The Battle of Algiers I began to think about torture in our day. It is common to see candidates, senators, and representatives to attack this administration for the use of torture in Iraq. Why shouldn't they - the adminstration is an easy escape goat. If you someone if torture is okay, the most common anwser will be no. Torture doesn't sound good. But the fact is that many of the congress men and women did know interrogation and torture was happening. Lets step back for a minute and phrase the question this way: Now keep in mind the men and women in the World Trade Center that faced the decision to burn to death or jump from 80th floor of the building. If the CIA definetively had the masterminds behind the 9/11 attacks in custody, and they withheld usable information regarding the terrorist organization, members in the organization, and future plans of the organization, how sympathic would you feel for them? I don't sympathize with them. If a poll ran for the public with 3 options: 1) interrogate these men and let the public knows the details, 2) interrogate the details but don't tell us, 3) leave them alone. I have a suspicion that a majority would fall in the first 2, and primarily the second. Isn't that why we have the CIA - to do the dirty work to protect us?