March 14, 2004

To the Newsweek Editors:

Re: War on Terror By Michael Hirsh and John Barry

While I would certainly like to see Osama bin Laden brought to the International Court of Justice, the means by which he is brought there matter. I understand the "heating up" of the "hunt" to involve torture. But that word isn't being used. The authors report that security forces arrested "several women married to foreign fighters" and "destroyed houses of tribesman suspected of sheltering Qaeda fugitives." When the "tactics" in use "provide information," can we reasonably assume that torture is involved? The authors say that the "$25 million for bin Laden's head provides _extra incentive_"? More incentive than what? Than the fear of interrogation or the possible destruction of one's home? I wonder if the Special Forces and their Pakistani allies work in accord with the Geneva Convention, or do they have a special exemption? What would the folks at the Office of Special Plans have to say? You can rename the School of the Americas, but torture is still torture, and it's not something I support, regardless of the noble objectives.