Assume that you are the Director of Homeland Security, a federal agency charged in part with ensuring that Americans are protected against foreign and domestic terrorists. Agents have taken Amar Anzi into custody. Based on information supplied by an informant who has infiltrated the organization to which Anzi belongs, you have reason to believe that Anzi has knowledge of a series of planned airplane hijackings reminiscent of the 9/11 attacks and that the hijackings will be carried out imminently at various unidentified U.S. airports. You have the utmost confidence in your informant, who has provided consistently reliable intelligence information in the past. Moreover, various aspects of the informants accountincluding Anzis use of surreptitious e-mail accounts, his training in explosives, and his participation in piloting classeshave been corroborated. Anzi has steadfastly refused to respond to questioning. You must decide whether to authorize interrogators to torture Anzi in an attempt to gather information from him. What will you decide, and why?
