The 'disgrace of our nation'
And the scandals don't stop. Now, reportedly, the CIA has a system of secret prisons, so-called "black sites" where terrorist suspects are held and subjected to "enhanced interrogation techniques," which are prohibited by U.N. convention and U.S. military law. At various times in the past four years, these secret facilities have been in eight countries, and apparently are now in former Soviet bloc countries. More than 100 "suspected" terrorists have disappeared into this secret system.
After the scandals of Abu Ghraib, Gitmo and the flap over extraordinary rendition, you would think the current administration would start thinking more clearly about such terms as "human rights," "innocent until proven guilty" and "the right to legal representation." It used to be that the U.S. was considered the beacon of democracy to the rest of the world. Now, with people "disappearing" into "black sites," our government should be equated with other third-rate dictatorships.
Shame on the Bush administration for dragging our country down into the slime. Shame on The Courier-Journal for burying this latest scandal on page 7. Shame on Rep. Anne Northup for rubber-stamping, without question, everything this administration puts forth. Shame on our senior senator, Mitch McConnell, for being more concerned about Republican domination and business interests than what is best for the American people. And shame on us, the American people, for not picking up a pen or the phone to protest the ongoing disgrace of our nation.
CAROLINE CHAN
Louisville 40243
'What sad, sad times'
Has there ever been a time in our country's history when a sitting president must defend his administration against charges and questions about the use of torture, while at the same time, his vice president lobbies for the use of it? What sad, sad, times we live in.
HUGH McCARTY
Louisville 40214
'This deliberate ruse'
I am appalled that the Bush administration would use our understandable fear of terrorists as leverage to help sell the ridiculous idea that, in order for President Bush to protect us, Congress must exempt the CIA from the McCain amendment requirement to treat detainees humanely.
The interrogation methods that we historically called "torture" are now called "extreme interrogation methods" by this administration. This deliberate ruse enables Bush to say; "We don't torture." But twisting the language to narrowly define torture can't hide well-documented cases where torture was clearly used by us -- torture that sometimes resulted in the death of the detainee.
So far, we have no evidence where torture provided us with any reliable intelligence. But we do have evidence, like the evidence from the case of Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi, where torture yielded bogus information.
I urge Kentuckians to go to congress.org and let Congress know that we will not allow a specious argument that plays on our fears to fool us into supporting something that distorts the laws and values our country has championed for over 200 years. While the majority of Congress currently supports the McCain amendment, they need our help to resist the extreme White House pressure to change it.
PATTY MORLAN
Louisville 40205
'Subvert the laws'
The "secret" detention centers that our country is using to harbor terrorists are interesting news. On the one hand, we are being told that the building of democracies, especially in the Mideast, is essential to our freedom. On the other hand, we are using secret prisons abroad to subvert the laws of our own democracy, which forbids such a system.
I can only assume that we want a certain percentage of the world to be undemocratic so that we can be certain to have places that will allow us to lock up people undemocratically in order to promote democracy.
