Accountability for, advocacy of torture

Re “Torture and accountability,” Opinion, Oct. 17

It seems that Alan Dershowitz is still in favor of the rack and other forms of torture to find those mythical “ticking bombs.” Only now he’s complaining that when President Clinton suggested something similar, the media and public didn’t beat up on him. But Clinton pointed out that he didn’t know of any ticking bomb instances, and he was aware that errors had been made in deciding who was a suspect.

Dershowitz has not, to my knowledge, addressed what to do with innocent people who have been subjected to torture warrants. The real issue isn’t torture -- it’s accountability. Torture has occurred in U.S. military and intelligence operations worldwide. Dershowitz’s torture warrants and Bush’s latest detainee bill are both designed to procure one result: the immunization of the torturers for their acts.

DALE JENNINGS

Boulevard, Calif.

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Dershowitz’s and Clinton’s call for laws authorizing torture are disgusting. The idea that somehow torture is fine as long as you get court authorization is an outrage. The methods of the Spanish Inquisition were authorized by the temporal and spiritual authorities of the time. That certainly did not make it right. Dershowitz and Clinton deserve the condemnation of all civilized people for what they are advocating.

CARL W. GOSS

Los Angeles