Detainee interrogation policy is bad for U.S.
The idea of excluding Geneva Convention torture protection from the Army Field Manual on detainee interrogation (June 5) is unconscionable. If anyone needed more reasons to fire Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, here they are: lack of moral fiber and stupidity on an international scale. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) seems to be the only person in Washington who understands what honor is.
JERZY G. RELICH
Huntington Beach
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So the new Army Field Manual is going to let detainees be subject to “humiliating and degrading treatment.” That means that it essentially OKs U.S. personnel taken prisoner by enemy forces to be treated the same way. It abandons the Christian principle of “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” This shows that the United States is definitely not a Christian country.
KENNETH H. BONNELL
Eagle Rock
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How proud we should be that under the Bush administration, American values are being so clearly defined: It is acceptable to inflict “humiliating and degrading treatment” on detainees in violation of the Geneva Convention (oh yeah, another value -- we don’t have to abide by treaties when we decide we no longer like them), and it is unacceptable for homosexuals to enjoy the same rights and privileges available to heterosexuals.
JOHN WAYNE
South Pasadena
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