I wonder how many other legitimate psychological studies were misrepresented to justify torture.

A British professor whose research on sleep was cited in one of the just-released Bush administration torture memos has expressed outrage that his work was used to justify extreme sleep deprivation, including keeping subjects awake for up to 11 days.

…

As for whether such stress could be considered “harmful,” Horne was unequivocal. “I thought it was totally inappropriate to cite my book as being evidence that you can do this and there’s not much harm. With additional stress, these people are suffering. It’s obviously traumatic,” he said. “I just find it absurd.”

Further, Horne continued, sleep-deprived subjects become so confused that they’re highly unlikely to offer useful intelligence. “I don’t understand what you’re going to get out of it,” he said. “You can no longer think rationally, you just become more of an automaton … These people will just be spewing nonsense anyway. It’s pointless!”

So even for those who argue that torture is justified when it produces actionable intelligence — sleep deprivation doesn’t.