Your Views: Torture of U.S. prisoners should cause great alarm

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Much of the information in the Senate Intelligence Report concerning our use of torture was disclosed years ago. As a former U.S. Navy officer, I began reading of these abuses in 2004 with great alarm.

My country, in clear violation of the Geneva Conventions, was abducting and torturing people; some to the point of death. I researched these abuses and produced a 30-minute commentary, “America Be Beautiful,” which was aired on JATV (Janesville public access television) in 2006. Links to the commentary are on my website: MousePadPolitics.com.

When fear causes us to abandon our principles, we become morally bankrupt and stand to lose everything our country stood for in the beginning. When we allow our government to commit war crimes hidden under a veil of secrecy, we are on our way to becoming a police state. Democracy must be defended from within by informed and involved citizens. When citizens do not rise up to stop this madness, our republic will be lost.

Mahar Arar, Canadian citizen tortured at a CIA black site, said, “Torture does not tell you anything about the person being tortured but tells you volumes about the person who's doing the torture.”

NORM AULABAUGH

Orfordville

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