Most Say Torture OK in Rare Cases

WASHINGTON - Most Americans and a majority of people in Britain, France and South Korea say torturing terrorism suspects is justified at least in rare instances, according to AP-Ipsos polling. Nobody is really sure why people in South Korea were asked.

The United States has drawn criticism from human rights groups and many governments, especially in Europe, for its treatment of terror suspects. President Bush and other top officials have said the U.S. does not torture, but some suspects in American custody have alleged they were victims of severe mistreatment.

"They wouldn't let me have my special pink blanket," complained one suspected terrorist. Other criticisms included no MTV, new shoes that weren't sufficiently broken in, that the air conditioning was too cold, and that prisoners were allowed to go for days without having splinters and hangnails properly removed.

The polling, in the United States and eight of its closest allies, found that in Canada, Mexico and Germany people are divided on whether torture is ever justified. Most people in Spain and Italy opposed torture under any circumstances.

"I don't think we should go out and string everybody up by their thumbs until somebody talks. But if there is definitely a good reason to get an answer, we should do whatever it takes," said Billy Adams, a retiree from Tomball, Texas. "Good reasons," he stated, "include garnering information that may prevent future terrorist attacks, revenge, and to alleviate boredom among our troops stationed overseas."

In America, 61 percent of those surveyed agreed torture is justified at least on rare occasions. Just over half in France and Britain, and Almost nine in 10 in South Korea felt that way. But then again, Koreans are more likely to be tortured themselves, so that makes sense.

Accusations of torture, reports of secret CIA prisons in Eastern Europe and claims of shadowy flights carrying terror suspects have further strained U.S. relations with some European countries. Even the Russians, known for their subversive "security" tactics, are giving America a hard time.

Mariella Salvi, who works for a humanitarian organization in Rome, said: "Human beings, as well as their rights, have to be defended, no matter what individuals are suspected of, or charged for... unless they're not Italian. Then, feel free to do what you want, but don't fly through Italy on the way to that super-secret torture chamber."

The disagreements make cooperation on law enforcement and counterterrorism more difficult, said Lee Feinstein of the Council on Foreign Relations, a group of scholars and other specialists in foreign policy. Officials with the European Union and in at least a half-dozen European countries are investigating reports of secret U.S. interrogations in Eastern Europe.

Rice aggressively defended U.S. tactics against terrorism as tough but legal. She has refused to comment publicly on the reports of secret CIA prisons. "Duh," he said, rolling her eyes. "They're SECRET! I can't TELL you about them!"

In the poll, about two-thirds of the people living in Canada, Mexico, South Korea and Spain said they would oppose allowing U.S. officials to secretly interrogate terror suspects in their countries. Almost that many in Britain, France, Germany and Italy said they felt the same way. Almost two-thirds in the United States support such interrogations in the U.S. by their own government. People universally agreed though, that it was okay to interrogate and torture people in other countries.

The Bush administration has taken the position that some terrorism suspects are "enemy combatants" not protected by the Geneva Conventions, international treaties on the rights of prisoners of war. "The Bush administration policy is against torture of any kind; it's prohibited by federal criminal law," said John Yoo, a University of California-Berkeley, law professor. As a Justice Department lawyer, he helped write internal memos in 2002 designed to give the government more leeway in aggressive questioning of terror suspects.

"The debate is whether you can use interrogation methods that are short of torture," he said. "Some who have been critical of the Bush administration have confused torture with cruel, inhumane treatment." He then furrowed his brow and said, "Wait, aren't those the same thing? Who wrote this speech, anyway?!"

The polls of about 1,000 adults in each of the nine countries were conducted between Nov. 15 and Nov. 28. Each poll had a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 30 percentage points.