Reject torture - and redeem America's soul

Finally! Americans have an opportunity to face down a monster – the ignominy of using barbaric torture tactics in the name of national security – let loose upon us by the Bush administration.

Since April 2004, when the awful images of Abu Ghraib came to light, igniting our enormous outcry, we have learned what really goes on at Guantánamo and in the CIA's worldwide network of secret prisons, where "alternative interrogation techniques" such as sexual humiliation and water-boarding are applied.

Though voters on Nov. 7 rejected President Bush's methods, he has not forsaken them: We must assume the United States government is still – no other word for it – torturing countless alleged terror suspects, most of whom haven't been charged.

Oh the shame. America's moral voice once edified the world. But today there is not much it can say with any integrity. The fall is killing America's soul. And the shame doesn't end with the Bush administration; it stains all Americans – "We the People" – the demos of this democracy. "Realists" say that torture happens in all wars, that Americans have tortured in the past. Yes, but not as American policy.

The nation must redeem its good name. Yet, shamefully, there's been little leadership in this mission. In the 2004 presidential race, neither Mr. Bush nor Sen. John Kerry (D) of Massachusetts confronted the torture issue squarely after Abu Ghraib. Sen. John McCain (R) of Arizona says the right things – "It's not about them. It's about us and what kind of country we are" – yet voted for the Military Commissions Act legalizing abusive treatment.

Unchampioned, then, the torture issue has rumbled around the American landscape like one of artist Francisco de Goya's monsters, combated with no more potent weapons than letters to the editor, columns, and citizens groups. Torture has even reduced to irony on Jon Stewart's popular fake-news show. No wonder citizen protest has gone to ground!

But now, the confluence of a new Democratic majority and the intensifying 2008 presidential campaign offers a golden opportunity to vanquish this monster.

Congressional Democrats promise hearings on torture. That's a good start. But they must also work aggressively to restore habeas corpus, undo the Military Commissions Act, and return the rule of law.

What could push the debate about torture into the public square is the 2008 presidential campaign. Imagine the transformation that would occur if White House hopefuls went on record stating their strong objection to American torture:

• It would reorient our core constitutional values. An emphatic "No!" to torture, especially after so much avoidance, would convert into an emphatic "Yes!" to due process, justice, adherence to laws not men – the list is long and soul-saving.

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