I'd have no problem with some kind of truth serum or other drugs, although I would prefer to see some kind of proper court authorization to keep it in the bounds of the Constitution.

As for the physical torture and the rest, forget it. Maybe being the "good guys" means we have to work with one hand tied behind our backs all the time. It makes things rough, and maybe costs us more in time, money and lives, but that's part of how it works.

Anyone brought up on the classic comic book heroes would know this instinctively. When I was a kid, good, evil, and values were laughed at by mainstream books and movies. Yet in the comics, there was still good guys and bad guys, and the good guys played by the rules even when it hurt.

In the Batman comic "The Killing Joke," written by noted writer Alan Moore, Commissioner Gordon is captured by the Joker, and tortured physically and mentally. He is shown photos of his daughter, who has been shot that night and permanently crippled by the Joker. When Batman rescues him, he takes some time to recover, then says, "You have to go after him! I want him brought in...and I want him brought in by the book!"

"I'll do my best," replies Batman.

"By the book, you hear?" Gordon shouts after him. "We have to show him! We have to show him that our way works!"

Our entire military effort is an attempt to go by the book, and avoid harming innocent people. I have no doubt that had it been in any way feasible to somehow apprehend bin Laden and all of his network, they would have been brought to trial. I see no reason to abandon our principles for expedience in the matter of our prisoners either.