The argument from The Bomb, acted out on screen.
This is by no means the only movie to depict government officials dealing with a criminal who has done something or is about to do something that will result in the death of at least one innocent victim, and finding they can only save the prospective victim or victims by torturing the criminal for information.
Child abusers who have kidnapped children hidden somewhere.
Serial killers who have a kidnapped girl buried alive, about to run out of air.
You know the genre.
So, of course, they do it.
They use torture and find the children or the buried girl.
Or the nukes.
Remember Jack Bauer of 24?
And few in any audience object, that I know of.
The point is not to punish the criminal.
The point is not to obtain evidence for use in a trial.
The point is to prevent the criminal killing innocents, to save the prospective victims.
Think on the analogy of an active school shooter.
May police - or for that matter any armed passers-by - shoot to kill to stop or prevent such slaughter?
You bet.
May they do whatever else may be needful, provided they don't harm innocent people?
Yeah, pretty much.
Legally, use of torture to find the victims or find the bombs may not be in the same boat as use of force to stop an active shooter.
All the same, I'm not only OK with it, I would do it myself.
But I'm sure there are well trained people who would do a better job.
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