Circuitous Noodle: Torture has always been evil and it still is.

"Freedom from torture is an inalienable human right, and we are committed to building a world where human rights are respected and protected by the rule of law…Throughout the world, there are many who have been seeking to have their voices heard, to stand up for their right to freedom, and to break the chains of tyranny. Too many of those courageous women and men are paying a terrible price for their brave acts of dissent. Many have been detained, arrested, thrown in prison, and subjected to torture by regimes that fail to understand that their habits of control will not serve them well in the long-term."
George W. Bush

Situational ethics was a much beloved catch phrase of the Moral Majority. I haven't heard it mentioned for a long time now. That's because the conservative right has embraced 'the end justifies the means' thinking, which is truly worse. Anything they think would advance God's will, as they see it, is the morally responsible thing to do. This has led to an embrace of evil, such as torture.

They worship at the Alter of Commerce in the Church of Supremacy.
Their dungeons are full of skeletons and sinister secrets.
Half truths, self- aggrandizement and trepidation are the subjects of their sermons.
The virtues they cherish are greed, pride, gluttony and tyranny.
The fruit they bare is misery, death and devastation.
Darkness follows in their wake;
And ruin is their toll.

Poll: 44% of Americans favor torture for terrorist suspects

To torture a mother's innocent children in front of her in an effort to solicite information is evil. To not even be able to say that burying somebody alive is something no human being can order is evil. This isn’t American. This isn’t who we are or what we’re about. This is something unholy; a cancer.

Hearing on Torture with Addington & Yoo: Nadler's Questions