It's interesting that you invoke cognitive dissonance...do you understand the difference between fiction and reality? Basterds is a MOVIE, and the fight against Al Qaeda is REAL. I like watching 'The Godfather' but I don't think that it's really okay for the mafia to kill people. I like watching 'Scarface' but I don't think drug dealing is glamorous in real life. And I enjoyed 'Basterds', but that doesn't mean it's okay for the US to torture people. This is just like people invoking Jack Bauer as a justification for torture. The only proper response is: "Are you being serious?"

In reality, of course, our refusal to torture and our humane treatment of POWs was one of the things that distinguished us during WWII. It's where the ideals of American freedom and justice were propagated throughout the world. That's what Ronald Reagan (who I'm certain the assemblyman admires) knew when he signed treaties against torture and inveighed against it in speeches and rhetoric. That's what George Bush and Dick Cheney have stolen from us all.

I'm not going to go into here the many utilitarian reasons why torture is an ineffective policy. I just want to say that using a fictional piece of entertainment to attempt to make a serious point about US POW policy shows the insanity and dissonance of your own side.