"What happens if we don't waterboard a person, and we don't get that nugget of information, and there's an attack," Kiriakou said. "I would have trouble forgiving myself."
This is the false conundrum. You could say this about any irrational, immoral or illegal behavior. Imagine this rationale throughout American history... What if I didn't hang that black man -- I'd never forgive myself if he raped a white woman. What if we didn't go into Vietnam -- I'd never forgive myself if it fell to communism. This is a sad, disgraceful era in our nation's history.
UPDATE: Blue Texan at FDL makes a similar point.