Canada, Torture, and the U.S.

[From 1/18/08, about Canada's placement of the U.S. on a list of countries that practice torture.]

To the editor:

This week comes the heartbreaking news that Canada has placed the United States on a watch list—a list that includes China, Iran, and Syria—for being a country that practices torture.

How many times must it be repeated: Waterboarding suspected terrorists does not provide credible information. People will say anything to stop being tortured. And perhaps even more importantly, the U.S. cannot win the war on terror all alone. We need our friends. Unfortunately, our use of torture has begun to jeopardize the cooperation of other countries in intelligence gathering and similar activities—thus making the United States more vulnerable to a terrorist attack. Simply saying “to hell with the rest of the world” is not a valid option. Allies are absolutely essential in combating a problem like terrorism.

What a disgrace. If we’ve lost the support of Canada—one of our closest allies—then we’ve fallen so far it will be hard for us to regain our standing in the world.