The thing with torture is that you are trying to influence others than those being tortured. Take the Guantanamo Bay example. None of the people taken there fo

The thing with torture is that you are trying to influence others than those being tortured. Take the Guantanamo Bay example. None of the people taken there for interrogation had any connection to the unspeakable taboo events in question, however, their treatment sent a chilling message of terror to everyone and anyone in the whole world. That message was a simple one - 'you mess with us and you can expect this'. This technique controls domestic dissent and that is always what concerns an empire more than the real or imagined external threat. Hence nobody proactively took action against the war even if they did grumble amongst themselves about things like the Patriot Act. It is just part and parcel of statecraft in any era of empire.