Do We Torture?

Is the United States holding people in secret locations and torturing them?

Human Rights Watch thinks so, and claims at least eleven Al Qaida suspects have "disappeared" and some may have been tortured. HRW claims the US government has violated international law, treaties and the Geneva Convention.

When the truth eventually comes out, what will happen then?

Maybe the world will lower its opinion of us. Maybe potential terrorists will realize they can be caught, taken away and brutalized without access to legal help.

If the former, the world will become an even more dangerous place for Americans. If the latter, Americans will probably be safer in the long run.

Torture isn't our way. If the US is torturing people now, the leaders who have ordered it should be held accountable— just like the lowly American GI prisoner-abusers at Abu Ghraib prison.

Torture isn't what America stands for.

Brad Messer commentary— KTSA.