I grew up in the 1950s, watching heroes like John Wayne acting in war movies. The central theme was that we were the good guys and the Germans and Japanese were the bad guys. We didn’t kill millions of innocent people in gas chambers and didn’t do a Bataan Death March with prisoners of war. America was the good force fighting evil.

Today, that notion is gone, as we are the nation that tortures people for information when we feel threatened. In fact, we are capable of doing just about anything when we are scared. The “home of the brave” line at the end of our national anthem is not our reality.

Certainly, 12 years of bombing and torturing the bad guys has only made us bad guys. We have become our own enemy. Think how you would react to a country invading America and sending soldiers to your home to kick in your door and threaten your family with guns. Then the soldiers take you off to be interrogated with torture. Does that sound like the “good guys” to you?

How could God bless America when we torture people?

Pete Scobby

Newport