Not Rhetorical

Thank you for writing about the important matter of torture and for the good editorial, The Shame of Torture (11/7).

I was a bombardier in Europe during World War II, which I regret in my old age, and I am even more ashamed of our country today because of its blatant practice of torture on human beings.

To those who have paid attention to this subject, my comments might seem trite, but I believe there are two key issues we have not dealt with adequatelynot the government or the media.

First, while there has been a baker’s dozen of investigations on the use of torture by the U.S. government, these have been fox-in-the-henhouse inquiries, and not one of them has been an independent investigation. Why is this?

Second, a large body of evidence shows that the U.S. practice of using torture is not an aberration or the work of a few bad apples (the entire barrel smells like something washed up by Hurricane Katrina). Yet the blame is placed on a few low-ranking noncoms at a single prison, Abu Ghraib. The policy of state-sponsored cruelty has not led to anything but the trial and conviction of a private in the Army, as well as eight other hapless G.I.’s.

Am I missing something? If this were in a novel, no publisher would touch it; the plot is too far-fetched. When do we get to the heart of this problem? After America has lost its soul? The question is not rhetorical.

Tom Brubeck

Already in Place

It would be a mistake to assume that the recent meeting in Rome of the World Synod of Bishops did very little to alleviate the associated problems of the unavailability of the Holy Eucharist and the shortage of priests (Signs of the Times, 10/31). A decision to go with married priests, suddenly and everywhere, would have been a colossal disturbance. But the ordination of married viri probati was floated at the synod. Married convert ministers are considered such, and are ordained. Therefore, the policy of ordaining viri probati is already in place. This policy can easily be extended, a quantitative change only, to permanent deacons. They, of course, would have to request priestly ordination. There is little reason to think they would not be offered the same treatment as converts. Neither of these groups, by the way, has been involved in the sexual scandal.

(Rev.) Connell J. Maguire