Ex-POWs Have Allies in Their Legal Battle

Re “White House Turns Tables on Former American POWs,” Feb. 15: The court awarded a monetary judgment against Iraq and in favor of U.S. military people/POWs who were tortured by Iraq during the Gulf War. The Bush administration has now asked the court to overturn its own judgment. The reason is clear. If a prisoner of war who was tortured has the right to sue the offending nation in a U.S. court, then the Iraqis who have been tortured by the U.S. can sue the U.S. for damages.

The U.S. refuses to count or report the number of Iraqi civilians who have been killed by the U.S. -- reported by other sources as being more than 100,000. Since the U.S. lied about the reasons for invading Iraq, since the U.S. had no legitimate reasons for invading Iraq (it was not a threat to us as it had no weapons of mass destruction), doesn’t that mean that the survivors of the civilians killed can also sue the U.S. for wrongful death? Why is the administration trying to overturn this judgment? It does not want to be held accountable for the torture it has sanctioned and the deaths it has caused.

Nancy A. Butterfield

Camarillo

*

Surely there is enough room for Halliburton to move over and share with the former POWs, who seem to have legitimate claim to a place at the trough. Is tort reform so high on the agenda now that it trumps even the “Support Our Troops” ribbons we so proudly display?

Harry Terrill

Monrovia

*

I read the article with a growing sense of shame and disbelief. How could our government oppose the compensation of these brave men and women? It goes against the intent of Congress, and therefore the people, to deny them the right to justice. Even a billion dollars is minor compared with the dollars we spend each week to prosecute this now clearly senseless war.

Perhaps there is a concern in the White House that the claims of 17 POWs could be dwarfed by the future claims of thousands of detainees also denied the fundamental protections of the Geneva Convention.

I will never be ashamed of my country, but I am tired of being ashamed by the graceless actions of this government and, particularly, this president. We have sadly created a government of the venal, by the venal and for the venal.

Robert Holmes

North Hills