Questioning U.S. Interrogation Tactics

Your Oct. 28 Sunday Report says our spy agencies are facing questions of tactics and that “there is a lot of experimentation” about what the limits are. Options being explored are kidnapping family members of suspected terrorists, hiring Afghan drug lords and bandits as informants and possible assassination attempts. Bad news. But worse is Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Bob Graham’s (D-Fla.) admiring and detailed description of the brutal manner in which U.S. military commander “Black Jack” Pershing handled a Muslim insurrection on Mindanao. Such gratuitous descriptions do not serve a good purpose but excite the passions of those who would like to use such tactics and infuriate those who are outraged by such a deeds. Graham’s disavowal of such tactics rings hollow.

We are witnessing a rapid erosion of our civil liberties (1,000 “suspects” being detained in jail). We see attempted intimidation of dissent: Ari Fleischer’s remark about watching what you say. We see unprecedented denial of access for the news media to events in Afghanistan. And now our government--that should represent all the civilizing virtues--is considering torture, kidnapping and assassination. The people had better wake up fast!

William McCall

Arcadia

*

Recently there have been trial balloons floated by the FBI and other federal law-enforcement agencies that wish to employ torture to get suspects in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 to talk. As a member of the Army National Guard who could be called up and sent to fight for my country, I pray this does not happen.

If we torture their suspects, what fate can I or any other American soldier expect if captured in Afghanistan? How can we expect the laws of war to apply to us if we violate them? And who will listen to the U.S. if it protests such mistreatment? Indeed, if my government does stoop to such despicable conduct, I will refuse any orders to go overseas, out of disgust, but also out of self-preservation.

Jerry Bourbon

San Diego