Sample Letters to the Editor Regarding Torture
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Read More Letters From VFP Members
As one whom has worn served my country in uniform, I feel once again compelled by duty to my nation to speak out against the grievous abuses committed in the name of all proud Americans.
For many years, we have witnessed a battle not only against foreign people that wish to destroy the United States, but against forces within our own borders whose actions degrade the values and ideals that I have been sworn to protect. It is with this in mind that I urge President Obama, in the name of transparency and justice, to release the detainee abuse photographs.
The argument that the disclosure of these pictures would bring harm to our men and women in uniform is a specious one. It is not the photographs themselves, but what they depict that hurts our troops. Without the admission of our past transgressions, we may never resolve the seething anger that endangers our soldiers on a daily basis. Without the honesty and recognition of what we have done, we can never move forward.
I proudly stand by my military brothers and sisters and know that the way to keep them safe and bring them home comes only with the sincere wish to admit our mistakes and move forward with honesty and honor.
Military Family Letter to the Editor
I am proud to say that my loved one wears the uniform of the United States military. I, like all the family and friends of a service member, am first and foremost concerned with the safety and well being of this person who has served his nation with honor.
As such, I feel that the release of the detainee abuse photographs is necessary for the well-being of our troops. It is the actions depicted in these pictures, not the pictures themselves, which ultimately damages the name of the United States and, by extension, the men and women who protect and defend our most cherished ideals.
We cannot regain our standing in the world unless we are seen as honest brokers of peace, as a country with the strength of character to admit our past mistakes so that we can move forward with a clean conscience.
Our military serves in defense of the freedoms that we all hold dear, but with great freedom comes great responsibility. We owe it to our sons and daughters, mother and fathers, husbands and wives that are willing to give their lives to protect ours to do everything within our power to shield them from unnecessary harm. No matter how uncomfortable it may be, part of this responsibility is transparency and ultimately, accountability.
Informational Letter to the Editor
In 2003, Veterans For Peace co-signed an ACLU Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request demanding that the photographs of detainee abuses held by the Bush administration. On Sep. 22, 2008, the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals issued a unanimous ruling ordering the release of these pictures.
As a member of the United States Senate, Obama said that torture was "NOT how a serious Administration would approach the problem of terrorism," and "the sad part about all of this is that this betrayal of American values is unnecessary." Candidate Obama pledged to end the use of torture and promised the closure of the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. On his first day in office, President Obama addressed the importance of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) as "the most prominent expression of a profound national commitment to ensuring an open Government."
As a U.S. citizen, I recognize that the abuses of the Bush administration were carried out in my name. Additionally, the intentional and continued obscuring of the truth by the Obama administration stains my hands as well.
I call on my government to offer much needed catharsis to the American people, beginning by shedding light on the truth through the release of these photographs.
Published Letter by Board Member Ken Mayers
On May 9th I visited the concentration camp at Theresienstadt, where 8 of my mother's family died in WWII. In spite of the family connections, what hit me the hardest was the documented treatment of "troublemakers"-- isolation, cold water soakings, sensory deprivation, and starvation. The Nazi's had provided "legal authorization" for such conduct; we brought the authorizers to trial. In his opening statement at Nuremburg, Justice Jackson included the following: "The common sense of mankind demands that law shall not stop with the punishment of petty crimes by little people. It must also reach men who possess themselves of great power and make deliberate and concerted use of it to set in motion evils which leave no home in the world untouched." It is imperative that those who created the "legal authorization" for the American torture of prisoners be held accountable for their violations of our constitution.
Kenneth E. Mayers, Major USMCR (Ret'd)
This letter was the first of four on the page under a headline, "Torture investigation imperative"
Read More Letters From VFP Members
We veterans of the war in
Viet Nam remember well how a misguided citizenry vilified us troops for
a war instigated for the wrong reasons and mishandled in its
implementation. Now we are seeing that same citizenry, determined not
to repeat that mistake, all too ready to forgive an inexcusable breach
of humanity in the name of support for the troops.
Stop calling us heroes. We are victims, the same as those
who have been abused and killed. We are victims, once again, of poor
leaders, doing the wrong things for the wrong reasons and attempting to
cloak their malfeasance in the flags of patriotism and national
security. There are no unwounded soldiers.
If we even remotely condone torture, under any
rationalization, we invite the very scorn we allege ourselves to abhor
and call our courtship of world peace a lie. There is one way out of
this and it is clear. Release the photos as an acknowledgement of our
past and now shunned acceptance of bad conduct. Confirm our contrition
by isolating those responsible and holding them publicly and
significantly accountable. Take visible and authentic measures to
insure that these departures from civilized conduct to not reoccur.
All of the great empires of history have fallen because of
their arrogant belief in the own superiority and might. Lets take a
pass on that one.
Harold R. Pettus
Everett, WA
Dear Editors;
This speaks for myself, but also for the thousands of members, nation-wide [and of Chapter 92, here] of Veterans for Peace.
We are implacably opposed to torture, for any reason, under any circumstances. It is a violation of federal law, of the Bill of Rights [Amend V] and of treaties which , under Article VI of the Constitution, are the "...supreme Law of the Land..."
It must stop.
Samuel Scharff
Torture will continue, apparently.
In the past year,
many organizations and churches in Seattle stood up and
opposed the U.S. Government's policies and practices of torturing
prisoners. There have been street demonstrations, huge
banners on the fronts of churches and buildings. What has
been done about it? Nothing.
The same thing
that was done about illegal wiretaps, lying us into war in Iraq, the stealing of elections by GW Bush, and dozens of
other major crimes. Nothing.
So, it appears, nobody will be
blamed for the torturing of innocent prisoners-- prisoners who
were never accused of crimes let alone convicted, or sentenced to
any punishment. Instead, the media provides a
microphone for Cheney, to repeat his vicious slanders of people around the world, slanders that divide us all.
Like war, it
seems, torture will continue. And lawlessness itself will continue. What scandal will be on the front page
in 2010? Rest assured--nobody will be punished
except "the little people".
Todd Boyle - Veterans for
Peace