The grim reality of torture

Re “CIA doesn’t use torture, Bush says,” Oct. 6

The U.S. does torture people. We have all seen the photographs of detainees being tortured by U.S. troops. We have heard testimony from detainees who have been tortured in U.S. custody. We have heard statements from U.S. troops admitting to torturing Iraqi detainees.

President Bush’s reluctance to make Justice Department memos and testimony available seems like an admission that the U.S. government does torture people.

I don’t know which is more scary: that the United States tortures people, or that the president tries to convince his people that head slaps, freezing temperatures and simulated drownings do not constitute torture.

These are indeed very dark days for human rights in the U.S.

Rory E. Morty

Giessen, Germany

--

Bush says, “This government does not torture.” This lie is torture in and of itself to any American who had an idea of what this country used to be about, an idea that now is fading away.

Of course, it’s not nearly as bad as the torture someone is likely going through secretly somewhere right now in our name.

Chris Coulson

Los Angeles