it is painful for THIS American, who once was proud of his country's basic stance against abuse and torture of prisoners, to read of the changes and rationalizations being made by this administration.

There have always been individual instances of poor treatment ....by ANY country involved in emotional conflicts, but this upper-level condoning of general mistreatment and collusion with other governments to hide the suspect practices is beyond anything I ever expected...even from 'conservatives'. Perhaps I was gullible to think THAT could never happen here.

The vicious terrorism of 9/11 requires a response, and requires extraordinary efforts to deal with it, and for awhile, it seemed that was all we were doing, and we had much sympathy in the world for our cause...but this goes beyond patriotism and beyond reason. And besides, torture and abuse seldom accomplishes anywhere near the purported objectives it aims for.

I am not alone in my anger & frustration at this stupidity being perpetrated in the name of 'defense'....there are members of Congress, news reporters and angry citizens asking "why?" and saying "stop", and I hope that elections next year, and in 2008 will send a message about the INTEGRITY we need to expect from out government while fighting for our freedoms.