Torture is un-American

It is wrong to bar individuals from bringing violations of the Geneva Conventions to court.

It is wrong to tacitly allow breaches of the Geneva Conventions -- just as long as they are not "grave breaches."

It is unimaginable that our Congress -- the Congress of the United States of America -- would ever agree to take away the right of habeas corpus, which is designed to safeguard citizens against illegal detention or imprisonment. With this bill, anyone could be jailed on the president's say-so, and no court would have jurisdiction to review the case! It is madness to allow this.

This president and this Congress have legalized a situation where the raising of any dissenting voice -- including this one -- could result in imprisonment. That is un-American.

Most disgraceful, this bill allows "coerced" testimony. Coerced is another word for torture. But with this law, "if the coerced statement was acquired before a 2005 ban on cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment and a judge finds it to be reliable," no problem.

Remember those photos of vicious dogs and their bared teeth being restrained only inches from cowering prisoners? That is just one horrid example of the type of abuse that would be allowed under the plan being pushed by our president.

Putting in place a system that allows physical and mental abuse of prisoners is wrong.

It is wrong to give President Bush, or any president, the authority to decide which coercive techniques interrogators can use. No single individual, and especially no politician, should ever be given that type of absolute power. Our Congress has failed us miserably by agreeing to do so.

We're supposed to be better than this. We're supposed to stand for a higher moral calling. When our troops have been mistreated by other nations in previous wars, the principled standing we've proudly nurtured for so many decades has helped bring the world to our side.

Our current political leaders have us in a race to the ethical bottom, and our nation is suffering for it. We are losing not only our once-solid moral standing, but also our reputation for being a beacon of justice.

Our president and a majority of our men and women in Congress also appear blind to the fact that taking this road leads inevitably to a more dangerous world for all of us.

JB