Mill, Utilitarianism, and Waterboarding

Utilitarianism assumes that it would be morally correct for me to employ the water boarding technique on this possibly innocent man if it meant obtaining possible anti-terrorist information that could possibly save thousands of innocent Americans. The ‘greatest good for the greatest number’, so they say, but is torture really the best way to obtain the best consequence? I will use my take on the Just War model and J.J.C Smarts’ suggestion to focus on all consequences of a situation to argue against the notion that water torture would be morally ethical and the right thing that I ought to do.
Guantanamo Bay is a US prison for terrorists and other threatening people, located off of US soil. This means that the processes that go on in the institution, legally, do not need to follow US rules. Many painful and tortuous things are performed on the prisoners, such as force feeding and the topic of this essay, water boarding, where the victim is made to feel as though they are drowning. Although Gitmo is legal/allowed to an extent, it still begs the question how the guards consciously perform such cruel acts and what I would do if I were faced with the decision of torturing a prisoner or not.
The ethical ideas of the Just War model have been employed by international policy makers for years and should not be put to the side especially when dealing with a questionable situation which could potentially prevent a war, or start a preemptive war. The Just War model has a moral presumption against war, it states that war should be a last resort, and it also states that civilians and prisoners should be treated fairly and in a humane fashion. Not only should there be a moral presumption against war, but there should also be a presumption against violence in general, with violence being the last resort. Rather than going straight to a torture technique, the other guards and I could talk with the prisoner and negotiate terms with him such as better treatment, his own