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Letter: Protect our freedom at all cost

December 02, 2007

Dear Editor,

One of the questions directed at the candidates in the Republican presidential debate on CNN recently dealt with the subject of waterboarding as a technique used in interrogating enemy combatants.

I found John McCain's answer somewhat troubling. He is opposed to the procedure, and I respect his right to do so. However, his reason for opposing it is what I find troubling.

His claim that waterboarding is torture seems insignificant when compared to the torture inflicted on captives of the terrorists. He stated that this kind of treatment of enemy combatants is not what has made this country great, thereby inferring that it is the abstention of aggressive interrogating techniques that has made this country great.

Millions of people are attempting to get into this country, and I doubt that any of them want to come here because of our non-aggressive interrogating techniques.

Nor are any of them leaving their homes abroad to come here because of aggressive or torturous interrogating techniques being employed by their governments.

People are coming here today for the same reason they always have, and that is because of the freedom we have here. Our personal freedoms that have made this country great, and those freedoms have been protected over the years by whatever means necessary.

You may not like some of the means used, but the very fact that you are free to disagree with them is proof that they were effective. Once you limit the lengths to which you will go to protect those freedoms, you have effectively put a price on freedom. What you are telling the enemy is that we like our freedom, but here's some things that we won't do to protect it.

Terrorists need to know that we'll do whatever it takes to protect the freedom that so many already have died for. The politicians and some of the corporate gurus already have sold enough of our sovereignty to foreign governments. We do not need to put a price on our freedom because some politicians are concerned with our image abroad.

J. B. Waskom

Stanford

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