Larry k:
That was me. I said "What part of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill or Rights don't you understand?"

The Declaration says something like "we hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights..." That's ALL men, not just citizens of the USA. There weren't any citizens of the USA when that was written because there wasn't any USA.

About the Al Qaedist with the secret of the bomb: the answer would depend on a lot of things, like who told me what he knew? The same guy that told Powell all that crap and sent him to the UN with it? And if he's willing to die, like so many of them are, would he tell the truth? How could I tell? In WWII, if you knew when the Nazis were going to stage a buzz-bomb attack on England how much good would it do you?

But seriously, folks, that's the wrong question. It's a trick. The right question is "If you were a prison guard, and you didn't know what a prisoner knew or didn't know, would you use aggressive methods to soften him up for the interrogator?" And another right question is "Why say 'aggressive methods' when we all know you mean 'torture?' "

The sergeant is neither a hero nor a villain. He is lucky. Lucky he was right and didn't shoot a man who knew nothing and so couldn't tell him. What he did worked this time, but it's a poor habit to get into.

And finally, who exactly is this "Most Of You?" As in "I know that most of you would prefer to treat Al Queda the same way we treat Martha Stewart- with designer burkas and Calvin Kline robes."

clint