U.S. is losing its moral leadership

Re “Rice Fails to Clarify U.S. View on Torture,” Dec. 8

Habeas corpus has been a foundation of law and decency in the Western world since the 1600s. It means that a court must decide if there is sufficient reason to hold a prisoner or if a prisoner’s rights have been violated. In 1679, an act in England specifically stated that the crown could not detain a prisoner against the wishes of Parliament and the courts.

Our country’s founders considered this right so basic that they made it a part of the United States Constitution.

With her reasoning that she is protecting the world by secretly detaining people, and with the Bush administration’s declaration that it would veto a bill that bars torture, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and the administration continue to undermine the basic principles of freedom and democracy and to destroy our leadership role in the world family.

The abandonment of habeas corpus was in the first draft of the Patriot Act (though fortunately not accepted). It is frightening this is a topic of discussion.

JEFFREY AINIS

Crestline

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Re “Most in U.S. Say Torture Can Be Just,” Dec. 7

The Bush administration and its spokespersons have managed to tap darker aspects of the American character in the way the Nazis tapped the darker side of German character in another era.

CAROL GOSS

ALTON SAFFORD

Wrightwood

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Re “How we should judge torture,” Opinion, Dec. 8

Jonah Goldberg’s flippant attitude toward torture reveals his fundamental disregard for common decency and the values our country stands for. Legal hair-splitting about what kind of abuse actually constitutes torture is an attempt to evade the real issue: We claim to be a civilized country, and civilized countries don’t practice torture.

MARK JAMES MILLER

Arroyo Grande, Calif.