Civilized principles abandoned

As repugnant as Tom Horne’s “torture works” letter (May 1) is, at least he’s honest enough to tacitly acknowledge that the “we don’t torture” assurances of George W. Bush were false. Good. Now we’re getting somewhere.

Whether torture is useful is disputed by, among others, former FBI interrogator Ali Soufan who broke his silence just a few days ago. Columnist Kathleen Parker’s larger point (April 26) was that we decided long ago that torture is unconscionable. It’s also illegal. Still, Mr. Horne writes that this issue ought to be settled in favor of torture because ultimately torture is a necessary and shrewd decision by people who want to live, and that “dead ones have no moral dilemmas.”

But the dead aren’t so alone. Savages have no moral dilemmas either. By Mr. Horne’s reasoning, a terrified, soulless and bunkered asylum is where we all should have arrived by now, after bulldozing any aspirations that we can uphold civilized principles, including the rule of law. This trip “to the dark side,” as former Vice President Dick Cheney once described it, is what would take us right to the bleak world Mr. Horne describes. It’s quite the place, and it’s not America.

Tim Connor

Spokane