When you get into the military, you'll receive training on the rules of warfare (yes, I know that sounds funny but there are rules we're required to follow) as well as lawful verses unlawful orders. You'll be trained that there could come a time when you have a moral and legal obligation to _disobey_ an order if it is illegal. For example, had you been in Lt. Calley's squad at Mi Lai, you should've disobeyed his order to kill all of those villagers.

As for torture, crude physical torture is indeed unreliable. There are countless cases from WWII where partisans were captured by the Gestapo and who didn't reveal critical information under very gruesome torture. Yes, some did break but quite a few didn't.

If we ever use "torture" to extract information from prisoners (and I hope we never do), I hope it never gets further than the use of drugs or isolation. I'd hate for American interrogators to stoop to the level of the Gestapo. If we do, then that's another case where the terrorists would've forced us to change our values in response to their actions. In effect, that would be another victory for them. I refuse to let the bastards win.

Another of the things you'll be trained on is the Code of Conduct. This code came into being following the Korean War when some American soldiers made propaganda films denouncing the US and UN. These men had been subjected to physical and psychological warfare and several of them broke. The Code of Conduct deals with behavior if you're ever captured. It had to be modified following the POW experience during the Vietnam War. At some point, most people will reach a breaking point when being tortured. Military troops are required to hold out as long as they can and that breaking point varies with the individual, but there is no shame or crime when a person does get broken. In the case of Vietnam, some of our POWs were in captivity and subject to torture for many years. Some broke, others never did.

There's even one other point that has changed since Vietnam regarding the making of those videos. In some cases, it's actually a good idea to pretend to go along with them. When they release the video, it's positive proof that a person is alive and being held prisoner. The enemy can't later come back and say they'd never heard of you. That's why several of our pilots who were captured in the Gulf War appeared in photos or video released by the enemy - they'd been taught to do that to increase their chances of survival. Knowing you're likely to survive helps you resolve yourself to endure the hardships like torture.