The REAL reason for torture?

As I listen to all the brouhaha about torture (Was it legal? Was it effective? Were there other alternatives?), something occurs to me that hasn't been brought up. Is it possible that the principals in this situation (Cheney, Bush, Rumsfeld, etc.) tortured for the reason that they WANTED to do it? These guys were (and are) power hungry, and they felt they could do anything, so my thought is they are really sick, warped individuals who like having the power of life and death over people. They brought a sense of hierarchical entitlement from their years in the corporate business world, ordering employees under their command to do as they were told or hit the bricks, and here they were, at the pinnacle of power in our world.

In the medieval times, kings would have the people they captured in battle tortured for their amusement and gratification. These are men and women who seem to me to be about on that level. Maybe they didn't care if they got information. It's just so COOL to be able to make someone else water board someone. Add to this the fact that they never had the chance to prove their manhood on the battlefield, having, as Cheney has said, "other priorities," and you have a group of individuals who needed to show just how tough they are.

And as I watch and hear Dick Cheney in the media arrogantly beating his chest and saying "these things worked," my thought is that maybe he's not talking about stopping attacks really. Maybe he means he got his rocks off, and that's what it was all about.