Watching Mr. Mukasey’s ambiguous answers to questions about state-sanctioned torture at the Senate confirmation hearings, I am amazed at his difficulty with such a simple issue. Almost all moral and religious systems have some version of the Golden Rule: ‘Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.’ In Islamic tradition, it is put in this manner: ‘Whatever a person dislikes for himself, he should dislike for others.’

With this in mind, we may easily resolve the question of what constitutes torture. Torture is that treatment to which we would strongly object if inflicted upon our personnel should they fall into enemy hands. Would we acquiesce to such methods as water boarding when used against our own sons and daughters? As in most things, there can be no double standard. Call it torture or call it extreme interrogation; the semantics do not matter. Its use shames us at home and disgraces us before the civilized world.

Sincerely, Jay R. Crook