Web Letters: The Secret State of Torture

All responses are correct. Everyone has an opinion and I have it, too. Mr. George Bush is a good President. He's fighting against terrorism, which is necessary for most Muslim countries. Muslim terrorists are using Islam for their own purpose of revenge and hatred. But this is not Islam.

Good luck to Mr. Bush and other leaders who are fighting against terror and fear.

Abeer Khan

Florida, USA

If you don't think the blowback from the use of state torture isn't the same as the blowback of anything else, you'd be wrong.

Don't gloss over what seems to me is one of Hayden's implied and most obvious points: The French got their butt kicked out of Algeria, wasn't even close. One of the reasons, of course, was the sheer brutality they used against the subject population. They're still paying for it to this day (Zinedane Zidane notwithstanding).

One reason among many this all started is 'cause the Egyptians tortured the Muslim Brotherhood to no end, and no mercy. Thinking torture stops these cats--or offers up anything but the ephemeral, in the end--you're singin' sad tunes up a dead tree. The cats ain't even up there. They're out in the alley, talkin' about the government. It ain't a zero sum game. It ain't even a game of Chinese checkers. And for "Christians" to be doing the torturing? Yea, that's rich. The Savior's point was the exact opposite. He even proved it with his life and limb. He knew what kind of trouble people who torture end up getting into. He also knew a better way.

S. Debs

San Diego, CA

Tom Hayden makes the claim that the Bush Administration's torture policy is not the product of one individual, President Bush, or a group of individuals, the entire Bush Administration, but is a normal result of anyone who is fighting a popular insurgency. Tom Hayden then intimates that if we want to stay in Iraq then we have to accept that torture is unavoidable. This is a very interesting claim. Unfortunately, Mr. Hayden offers no evidence to back his claim. I would be more inclined to believe Mr. Hayden's argument if he were to offer me more evidence, rather than just his opinion, that it is the circumstances of the Iraq war, rather than the values of Bush and his Administration, that lead to Bush's torture policy.

Scott Kaplan

Pomona, NY

"Should America stay in Iraq? If your answer is still yes, then you must accept all the consequences."

Mr. Hayden, this is a thoughtful post that should cause us all to examine the issue from a realistic perspective. I commend you for not airing the two most misleading statements on torture. They are:
A.Torture is exclusive to the current administration.
B.Torture is never an effective means to gain useful intelligence.
Alas, I am 100 percent positive both statements are false.

I suggest, however, that we look beyond our present situation. I would think it helpful to rephrase your question: Should America leave Iraq, will we still be at war with international terrorists? If your answer is still yes, then you must accept all the consequences.

Robert Stephens

Flagstaff, AZ