Torture, or do I have to watch the Guiding Light ?

I have been struck by the idiocy of the recent discussion of the value of torture in questioning suspected terrorists.  Lets explore the meaning of the word for the purpose of discussion in this piece.
Torture, according to the United Nations Convention Against Torture (an advisory measure of the UN General Assembly) is:

...any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him, or a third person, information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to, lawful sanctions. --UN Convention Against Torture

Many Americans do not know that tortue was used by both Germany and Japan as a questioning method during WWII. Waterboarding was the methoud most often.  Every civilized nation in the world agrees that waterboarding ,for the purpose of interrogation,is classified as torture.  I would like to remind readers that the U.S. actually tried and hung enemy soilders for using this method on American soildiers.  Every civilized nation in the world has laws against torture even the United States.

The Bush administration tried to get around the law by trying to say that waterboarding is not torture. If all the facts were presented in court they would be proved wrong. It seems moronic to even have to have this discussion.  The facts are that some of our leaders are guilty of breaking both U.S. and international law. Waterboarding by our Government makes our country look just as bad as the people we are fighting.
Please no more talk of waterboarding being needed in this fight. If we use it we lose.