"Don, pretending that waterboarding is not torture is pretty silly."

You, too, Richard?

Will you people stop trying to put words in my mouth? PTUI!! I am NOT "pretending" that waterboarding is not torture. I am unalterably opposed to any form of torture no matter who does it, and I deeply resent your and Jim's accusations that I condone it.

You both seem to be assuming that the information that led to locating bin Laden came solely from torture, knowing really nothing about the intelligence processes that were actually used. Never even took into account the detail and accuracy available from spy satellites, for one thing. Capable of identifying the make and model of an automobile from 200 miles up, for example—AND often, of recognizing people. And that was one of their capabilities twenty years ago. I suspect they've made substantial advances since. Somewhat less high-tech, perhaps, are overflights with drones, which, believe me, have been on the prowl for some time, and are NOT solely used for "killing civilians," as you keep accusing American forces of using them for. And remember--American forces are not the ONLY ones there! You conveniently forget that this has been a joint operation from the start.

". . . although the US is claiming that its torture regime found ObL. . . ."

REALLY?   Who said THAT? Dick Cheney? And you accept the idea that people like that speak for the entire American citizenry?

Now, I'm fully aware that there are a lot of very iffy issues about tracking down bin Laden, and what might ultimately grow out of it, and there will be a lot of dissections and investigations of it in the future—done by American jurists, and, of course, by politicians of various stripes. That's inevitable.

But your knee-jerk idea that Americans in general, or me personally, totally approve of the whole operation, especially the possibility of the use of (and call it what it is!) torture, are insulting, offensive, holier-than-thou, and blatant evidence of rank prejudice.

SHAME!

Don Firth