Dean Hutson popped down to New York yesterday for an Oxford-style, three-on-three debate on the motion, "Tough interrogation of terror suspects is necessary." His team, arguing against the motion, persuaded the audience flip its initial opinion and vote the motion down.

The debate was one of a series sponsored by Intelligence Squared, an initiative of the  The Rosenkranz Foundation. The organizers announced:

A sold out audience at Asia Society and Museum, New York City voted 40% for the motion and 53% against at the conclusion of the debate. 7% were undecided.

Intelligence Squared U.S. polls its audience on each motion before and after the debate. At the start of Tuesday's debate, the audience voted 46% for the motion that "Tough interrogation of terror suspects is necessary," with 35 % against and 19% undecided.

Speaking for the motion were David Rivkin, partner in the Washington office of Baker & Hostetler LLP, a visiting fellow at the Nixon Center, and a contributing editor of the National Review and National Interest, Rick Francona, Retired U.S. Air Force Lieutenant Colonel who has served with the National Security Agency, the Defense Intelligence Agency, and the Central Intelligence Agency, and Heather Mac Donald, John M. Olin Fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor to City Journal. Speaking against the motion were Jack Cloonan, a 25-year veteran of the FBI and an internationally respected security expert, John D. Hutson, a retired Rear Admiral, having served as the Navy's Judge Advocate General from 1997 to 2000 and current president and dean of Franklin Pierce Law Center in Concord, New Hampshire, and Darius Rejali, professor of political science and chair of the political science department at Reed College, in Portland, Oregon and 2003 Carnegie Scholar and the author of "Torture and Democracy."

"It's the challenge of any debate to affect the opinions of the audience and our debate did just that," said Robert Rosenkranz, chairman of The Rosenkranz Foundation. "With the president vetoing a bill on tough interrogation techniques just last weekend, this could not have been more timely a topic."

The complete audio of the debate can be heard on the NPR/Intelligence Squared web site.