Over 40% in US support torture

THE number of Americans who would condone torture, at least when used on terrorists in order to save lives, has risen over the past two years and now stands at over 40%, according to a new opinion poll.

The poll released by WorldPublicOpinion.org, a project managed by the University of Maryland, found that a narrow majority of Americans — 53% — think all torture should be banned.

But 31% would accept it in terrorism cases to save innocent lives, and a further 13% said it should be allowed in other circumstances as well, the nationwide poll found. The remaining 3% did not know or did not answer. The margin of error was 3.3%.