I enthusiastically agree with almost everything you say. I appreciate that you are honest enough to admit that the recent practice of torture by this country, though absolutely inexcusable, do not compare to the crimes of the Nazi's, the Japanese during WWII, or indeed even other past crimes of our own country. Nor do the decades of denial on the part of those nations compare to our current situation. 

Where I disagree with you is on the implication that there is an attempt to "bury" anything taking place currently. The very fact that the President chose to release those memos, with all the sordid details save the names of the CIA agents, contradicts that implication. Saying he will not pursue prosecution of field agents who were assured by their superiors of the legality of their actions is not a cover up. Nor does his failure to state his intention to pursue prosecution of their superiors indicate a desire to keep this issue in the darkness. 

Immediate and vigorous prosecution of these people would, if anything, aid in the very condition you seek to avoid. Such a course would inevitably become politically charged to such a point that it would be near impossible to sort the truth from the politics. Historians would debate for decades whether the prosecutions were a just, unbiased pursuit of justice or a politically motivated witch-hunt. 

This all JUST happened. You speak of decades of denial yet we are only a few months into the new administration. Let the facts come out. Let some time pass--not decades, but more than a few months--nothing is being covered up here. Most of the facts are already known--give them time to sink in. Let's hope that the Senate follows through on the idea of a Truth Commission to be carried out in a non-partisan fashion and without hysterical recriminations or hysterical defensiveness. But most of all allow the process to proceed in a way that avoids a partisan firestorm, because such a firestorm will have the opposite effect of shining sunlight on the issues--if there's too much smoke in the air it's difficult for the sunlight to get through.

horrors. The German people of that time(60s)were quick to talk about the horrors of air bombardment. What you didn't know was that it was Churchill who wanted 'every city in Germany bombed into dust' in return for the mindless bombing and destruction the Germans brought to England. We, the awful Americans, denied Churchill his fervent wish for the total destruction that 24 hour a day bombing would have caused--in case you haven't noticed, this was a point for the good guys--the US. We are seldom given credit for this refusal to grind 'the Fatherland to dust. Today, we are given no credit at all for our efforts to rebuild not only Germany, but Japan and Italy as well.

In '64, I was at Ramstein(17th Air Force). Had talked to Germans all over the country about the war. Herr Goring had told the Germans that Germany would not be touched--ever. He miscalculated did he not? While at Ramstein, we lived in family housing and had a heavy cleaning maid once a week. One day at lunch, she and my wife were discussing the war in general. Frau Muller mentioned that her husband was having difficulty holding a job because of his war injuries. My wife, a young lady from Wabash Indiana, stared our maid in the face and simply said: "You started it."

And please Dave, quit using mentions of the atom bombing of Japan. Had we not used the bombs as we did, Japan would have been nothing but ashes from the constant incendiary bombing raids brought down upon it by Curtis LeMay and his B-29s. Incendiary bombs and wood and paper houses cannot co-exist in the same space and time.

Now America has the opportunity to show the world that we are indeed a nation of laws and capable of trying our own war criminals. Are we? Apparently not since the ruling has come down from the mountain that we will neither investigate nor prosecute this dark chapter of a lawless country. Perhaps we can all, as Americans, ignore the next parking ticket or speeding ticket with impunity.

Further, I doubt that the petition effort and/or calls to the leadership will be effective in future prosecutions. None of those in the past have been effective in any way.

Time for a better way to go. Our leaders think that they are special and above the law. So far, they are correct in their thinking.

A mind once expanded can never return to its original dimensions.

Anne Hathaway: 1556-1623

The greatest derangement of the mind is to believe in something because one wishes it to be so.

Now that we know for certain our nation tortures, and that Bagram in Afghanistan is another potential Abu Graib, we can see that this administration is a watered-down replicant of the Bush administration. The Obama administration may, in ways that benefits its own self-image, engage in the closing of Guantanamo and the release of documents underscoring our national participation in acts of torture. But the Obama administration is avoiding a calling to accounts for the actions of the previous administration. In so doing, it becomes complicit in the coverup of some of the most heinous acts in modern American history.

If we are not mature enough as a society to call our government to accounts through our representatives in congress, and if we individually and collectively lack the moral fiber to pursue prosecution for acts considered war crimes under international convention, we are in a period of moral decay. For most Americans are all too aware of the part our government has played in torture. Most Americans want the Bush administration investigated and possibly prosecuted for their part in torture.

I hope the American people press our leaders in congress to call for Senator Leahy's Truth Commission. Then we can begin investigating how America came to be involved in the immoral acts of torture that have been committed in our names as Americans. A Truth Commission would help heal the international censure our involvement in torture has engendered.

Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living. Mother Jones