The Feb. 11 article, “Visit home turns chilling,” about the United States military’s alleged arrest and mistreatment of Everett resident Jawad al-Hamid, should disturb all Americans who love their country, care for the Bill of Rights and oppose terrorism.
Mr. Hamid’s account of his ordeal is harrowing to read. International law equates such treatment with torture. Imagine yourself or your loved ones being put through an ordeal like that. I think you would have no problem agreeing that torture had been applied.
The Bush crowd continues to use word games to insist that they do not practice torture because if they do something, it’s not torture. This same crowd also insists that the president can ignore the Constitution. In other words, any of us can be arrested and tortured at any time, at home or overseas, because the president has the right to do it.
Many of us have family serving in Iraq. I don’t think these practices make any of them safer. Intelligence professionals reject these methods because they do not produce useful intelligence, but rather bogus “confessions” by victims desperate to stop the pain. Professional investigators point out that suspects produce more useful information when given due process and an option to plea-bargain.
The great irony of Mr. Hamid’s case is that he fled to America to escape Saddam. “I love this country,” he says. He points out that these practices make it more difficult for Iraqis to trust America.
Unfortunately, we are saddled with leaders who seem determined to create new enemies and subvert our liberties. As citizens of a democracy, we have the right and power to hold them to account, and we should. Mr. Hamid has the right to have his charges investigated, and we should all support him in exercising it.
Sanford Thompson
Everett
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