The more you attend Church, the more likely you are so support Torture.

[John V]

Yes, I think it's both practical and moral to do so in such a situation. As you note, it's a very specific and very tidy scenario. The poll in the OP referred to torture of suspected terrorists, and I would not be surprised if the people being polled were thinking of just the scenario you described. When the use of "EIT" was being discussed, I think it was Dick Cheney who said that they were able to stop at least one attack through the use of torture. And I think that fear fuels the poll results.

Sure, although I doubt they were thinking of my scenario. More likely thinking of pictures from the Boston Marathon bombing or something like that.

But giving a government that kind of power is dangerous because they will not offer the transparency of your example. I think that if they were forced to be fully transparent when seeking to use torture, and if there were severe repercussions for using it against someone who did not have useful information, it would not be used at all. But under the cover of secrecy and with a tacit understanding that they will not be held accountable for it, it's too easy to use it and justify it later, which legitimizes it as a tool in the war against terror.

I wonder how long before it would become a legitimate tool in "the war against crime."

Or against civil disobedience. Once the gates are open, there's no telling what might slip through.

These arguments are examples of the slippery slope fallacy. You wouldn't accept a theist saying regarding gay marriage that once the gates are open, there's no telling what might slip through - marriage to children, animals, groups, etc. This is the same thing.