Divided over torture memos

Re “Unraveling the culture of torture,” Opinion, April 26

Three of the hundreds of Guantanamo detainees were waterboarded. Foremost among them was Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, who admitted helping murder 3,000 innocent Americans.

Mohammed was deprived of sleep and had water shoved up his nose. This pressured him to disclose crucial information about other planned terror attacks and the names of other Al Qaeda operatives.

Doyle McManus, as well as many in the Obama administration, are up in arms over this. They clearly have no business engaging in our national defense. They are naive children engaged in a very serious adult job.

Richard Friedman

Los Angeles

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McManus writes that Dick Cheney is right to ask the Obama administration to release evidence on whether torture works or not.

Torture is illegal under U.S. and international law. End of story. We have tried and executed Nazi and Japanese war criminals for torture. We have sent to prison the likes of Lynndie England -- so what justifies not prosecuting those who authorized torture, including George Bush, Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, David Addington, John Yoo and Jay Bybee?

Torture doesn’t work, and McManus fell for the oldest political trick in the book: changing the subject.

The point is not whether torture works or not. The point is whether it represents American values.

Russ Nichols

Los Angeles

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McManus writes: “Now we need to ask why the government was unable to correct an erroneous course for seven years, except when the Supreme Court forced it to -- and then only minimally.”

That’s easy: Sandbox bullies in power, cowardly cattle in Congress.

He adds: “We don’t need criminal prosecutions; we need public accountability at the top. Starting, for example, with public testimony from Dick Cheney.”

Then we also need criminal prosecutions at the top. We need to brand these bullies with accountability before the iron gets cold.

Russell R. Pence

Chandler, Ariz.