Torture. Why not?

Editor,

To legalize torture is thought by opponents on all sides to subject American military personnel to greater risk of inhumane treatment if captured. But the real danger in legalizing torture, aside from its despicable nature, is that to place such a "tool" in the hands of a government, especially a proto-fascist government like the one led by George W. Bush, is to threaten with torture citizens who oppose it. Torture and democracy do not mix. Kangaroo courts and democracy do not mix. Annulment of the right to habeas corpus and democracy do not mix.