Justifying your pathology

Of course torture is ineffective, and did not lead to bin Laden, but delayed it. But Dan Froomkin is too polite to put the "why" right-wingers are tossing it out there when he says this:

Torture apologists are reaching precisely the wrong conclusion from the back-story of the hunt for Osama bin Laden, say experienced interrogators and intelligence professionals.

They are not reaching for a conclusion, they are doing one of two things. First, for those with a bit of conscience left, they are trying to overcome their their guilt. Second, for those without, they are trying to vindicate their sense of the jollies over physically abuse "the other".

Either way, it is pathological and ugly.