NO TORTURE. NO EXCEPTIONS.

The use of torture by our country has bothered me for a long time. On November 20, 2007, I posted, "Our humanity has been compromised by those who use Gestapo tactics in our war." My final paragraph: “I wonder if our generation will be described as the ‘torture generation.' We live in a democracy, albeit a weakened one, but it’s not a dictatorship yet. How can we not be blamed if we allow our leaders to continue to torture?"

It's our "leaders" who continue to justify using torture. Its use is authorized by our president, George W. Bush and supported by Vice President Richard Cheney. Last Saturday, Bush vetoed the bill which would have required the CIA to be bound by the same anti-torture prohibitions mandated for the military.

Last Monday, Dan Froomkin, who blogs for The Washington Post, posted "A Legacy of Torture," which included excerpts from the February/March 2008 issue of the Washington Monthly. My hard copy arrived today and I urge everyone to either buy* the magazine or read ”NO MORE. No Torture. No Exceptions.” online. Thirty-seven people** have written articles about why using torture on so-called terrorists in an attempt to extract information must stop.

The drawing on the cover of the Washington Monthly is a sketch of Afghan detainee, Diliwar. He was a 22-year-old Afghan taxi driver and farmer, weighed 122 pounds and was described by his interpreters as neither violent nor aggressive. Dilawar was taken into U.S. custody on December 5, 2002. He was deprived of sleep, chained to the ceiling of his cell, his legs were “pulpified,” and he died five days later.

I feel responsible. I wonder if you do.

*I’ve subscribed to the Washington Monthly because I’m a fan of Kevin Drum, who blogs for the magazine.

**Including Jimmy Carter, Wesley Clark, John Kerry, Carl Levin, Richard Lugar, and Lawrence Wilkerson