Polson should fly flags on MLK Day
Editor,
Thank you to the volunteers who place flags along Main Street on federal holidays.
One, however, seems to be forgotten year after year — a holiday recognized by all 50 states and the federal government in honor of a man who died, as have so many brave military men and women, fighting for the rights and freedoms of his fellow Americans.
I hope Polson will be decorated with the flags on Jan. 16, 2006, in remembrance of the great Martin Luther King, Jr.
William Samsel
Polson
Torture should not be condoned
Editor,
Many Americans profess that our country does good in the world. I argue the opposite. Whatever positive contributions we make are overshadowed by negative and horrible actions by our government.
Historically, America has made some wonderful contributions to helping humankind develop political, social, and economic institutions. America has responded assertively to humanitarian disasters and foreign tyrants. Yet the current rash of international crimes being committed in our name eclipses the positive contributions.
America has become the prime international advocate for torture since 9/11. The endorsement of torture is inhumane and barbaric. Torture does not increase our nation's security, quite the opposite. Torture erodes our standing as a defender of freedom and human rights. Arguing that torture produces useful information in the war on terror is fallacious. The falseness of such claims is masked behind a veil of secrecy and fear. Torture jeopardizes the lives of Americans and undermines our sense of security.
The Bush administration claimed a connection between Saddam Hussein and al-Qaeda. This claim was used to support the invasion of Iraq. The only source for this alleged link came from Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi. At the behest of the Bush administration, Mr. Libi was tortured into linking al-Qaeda and Iraq. Even when this information became suspect, the Bush administration continued to use this faulty intelligence to press the case for war (Jehl, NY Times, 12/9/05).
Reliable media sources report examples of the following methods of American-sponsored torture: waterboarding and dousing until the victim nearly drowns, prolonged hooding, electric shocks to genitals, extracting fingernails and toenails, prolonged periods of stress positions, exposure to extreme cold and heat, sleep deprivation, exposure to deafening music, use of dogs, shackling to ceilings, sexual maltreatment including rape and insertion of foreign objects, and severe beatings resulting in maiming or death. These horrific acts, first exposed through the Abu Ghraib scandal, now occur in strict secrecy but persist to this day!
Torture victims are not reliable sources of information. Torture victims tend to say whatever their tormentors want them to say. In addition, torture dehumanizes those who participate in it. Whether by choice or sense of duty, Americans who participate in torture become morally deranged. Can Americans, in the name of national security, afford to have these people circulate freely in society? Are we not training more Ted Bundys, John Wayne Gacys, and Green River Killers to walk our streets? This will be an inevitable result of Bush policy on endorsing torture.
Many, if not most, victims of American-sponsored torture are innocent people. Anecdotal accounts suggest that intelligence agents use torture for "fishing expeditions" to hopefully stumble on useful intelligence.
Even for those victims associated with the Iraq insurgency or al-Qaeda, torture fails to serve the long-term interests of America. Every torture victim has relatives who are emboldened to avenge sadistic and cruel treatment of their relations. Torture inflames the passions and dulls human compassion. Torture should have no place in American policy. America's support for torture places us on a moral footing with Hitler, Stalin, Idi Amin and Pol Pot.
I hope that the New Year will bring more Americans to voice their opposition to torture. Jesus was not only executed but also tortured by being placed upon the cross. I find it ironic that conservative churches maintain their support for Bush and remain silent about this evident evil. These are the same voices who criticize moral relativism when confronting other social issues. If we cannot unite to stop the use of torture in our names then we are truly a nation of the damned.
David Daniels
Ronan