Readers React: Donald Trump and waterboarding: We don’t need a war criminal in the White House
Donald Trump, seen here in New York on Nov. 3, called for the return of waterboarding, saying it was “peanuts” compared to what Islamic State is doing.
To the editor: It is deeply troubling that a major candidate for president aspires to be a war criminal. (“Donald Trump calls for waterboarding to combat Islamic State,” Nov. 22)
In 1942, my father was waterboarded at Shanghai’s Bridge House, an infamous torture chamber. The ordeal was so frightening and “exquisitely painful” that he signed a false confession that he was a British agent, even though it wasn’t true and even though he believed he was signing his death warrant.
My father’s testimony before the Hong Kong War Crimes Tribunal in 1948 helped convict Japanese Lt. Gen. Eiichi Kinoshita under the doctrine of “command responsibility.” Kinoshita received a life sentence for his war crime.
The United Nations Convention Against Torture prohibits this form of cruel torture under any conceivable circumstance. Any president who authorizes waterboarding would be guilty of a war crime and must be punished accordingly.
Ernest A. Canning, Thousand Oaks
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To the editor: So Donald Trump is calling for the return of the interrogation technique of waterboarding. My question: How many more stupid things can Trump say?
Among other dumb things, Trump has discussed the possibility of closing mosques. Are churches, synagogues or temples next?
A quote attributed to Albert Einstein comes to mind: “Only two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”
Hugo Pastore, Lomita
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