Quote Originally Posted by Shivan View Post
Gunaratna (and others) have cited numbers as high as 7 million men radicalized and armed (or willing to be armed) to fight in jihad, and drawn from all over the Muslim world. Is that all the fault of Abu Ghraib, interrogation, etc.?
Leaving aside how credible that number is--and the serious dangers of lumping all Islamists into the same category-- I hardly think that anyone is claiming that its the sole source of militant Islamist grievance.

What is being claimed is that, quite apart from what I believe to be its clear illegality (under IHL) and immorality, water-boarding is not worth the damage it does to the US national image. In a long war of ideas and legitimacy, reputation counts.