There has been a great deal of talk within the news and the military communities reference ethical treatment of intelligence operations. Waterboarding, aggressive interrogations, and human source "burning" have been debated and the questions asked...is there an ethical quotient to intelligence gathering?

My answer is that there is, but it does not apply to the threat. It is the ethical responsibility of the intelligence gathering to do EVERYTHING within his or her power to gather information that furthers the goals and needs of the United States. If water boarding or aggressive, even violent, iterrogations yields even one nugget of operational intelligence than it is validated in the sense that it may serve to save American lives sometime down the road.

The challenge lies in training the operative to separate himself from whatever inherent value system he may have that would restrict his effectiveness. It is tough to knowingly elicit intelligence from a female source knowing that you will eventually expose her involvement which will lead to certain death. But if that information served the American public in any way, it is worth it and the intelligence community should feel compelled to do operations such as these as well as others

What say you?