The "lit fuse" scenario is a scary one, and it really is hard to say how anyone would come down on it in an actual case.

However, to me the issue is whether torture (or "rigorous interrogation") should be a matter of normal policy and procedure. Almost anyone who has ever been in the military would say, "certainly not." But, when the country is led by people whose closest exposure to combat has been John Wayne and Chuck Norris movies, that can be the result. I don't care much for the late Robert Heinlein's approach to political discourse (he made Cheney look liberal), but his idea of limiting the franchise to people with military service sometimes has some (limited) appeal.