Letter: President wrong to fight torture ban

Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2005 | 8:13 a.m.

The amendment, backed by American soldiers, passed overwhelmingly by a 90-9 Senate vote, but President Bush has said if any ban on torture is added to the bill, he would veto it.

The compassionate conservative Bush, who maintained that the torture, sexual humiliation and reports of rape at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo were actions of a few rogue enlistees -- and who were court-martialed and sentenced to prison -- said Congress was attempting to tie the administration's hands in the war against terrorism with the amendment.

The president didn't explain how banning torture would tie the administration's hands if the acts were isolated actions of those few enlistees. Torture isn't effective to gain credible information. A person being tortured will say anything to stop the torture.

Bush has never vetoed any bill. The first bill he decides to veto would confirm American values and our word to honor the Geneva Conventions, which, since our country signed those Conventions, became the law of the land, according to our Constitution.

Vetoing the law of our land, and higher moral law of humanity, will create more enemies wanting to retaliate, increasing the danger of terrorist attacks.

Joann Fischella Boulder City