Does Sam Brownback Condone Torture?

Following last week's GOP debate, there was much talk around the Catholic blogosphere concerning Sam Brownback's answer to a question that, at first glance, seemed to condone the use of torture against terrorism suspects in order to gain information during so-called "ticking time bomb" situations.

I didn't see the debate, but the notion that Sen. Brownback would support torture under any circumstances surprised me, given what I know about the man. If true, it would certainly disqualify him from my support.

But upon further review ...

Publius (who has been ambivalent about Brownback, so can't be accused of manipulating facts in support of his candidacy) has done a review and analysis of the debate transcripts. He concludes that the Brownback statement that many took as showing support for torture was actually in response to a different question regarding taking military action - without first obtaining U.N. authorization - against nations supporting terrorism. Read Publius' entire analysis of the issue here.

Nevertheless, I agree with Publius that, given the post-debate buzz, some clarification is needed from Sen. Brownback.