I admit I'm not comfortable with the torture issue, sorta like abortion. However, let's try some creative thinking here. What's wrong with playing some inane rock or rap song with repetitive lyrics day and night? How about using the "pig guts" approach? There are many socio-cultural psychological things that would make every hour of 24 hours deeply unpleasant without applying physical torture.

We now have technological means to find out information about a suspect's activities. We're not looking for legal standards of proof here. And I'll wager that in most cases the efficient cell structure of the bad guys kept them from knowing anything outside their particular operation, making torture activities moot.

-philw (woose)