TEXT November 5 -- Talk of torture.   "It's the sort of question that, way back in spring semester, would have made for a good late-night bull session in a college dorm room: If an atomic bomb were about to be detonated in Manhattan, would police be justified in torturing the terrorist who planted it to learn its location and save the city? But today, the debates are starting up in the higher reaches of the federal government.  And this time, the answers really matter."  (Steve Chapman, "Should we use torture to stop terrorism?", Chicago Tribune, Nov. 1; Dahlia Lithwick, "Tortured Justice", Slate, Oct. 24).

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