A Letter to the Speaker

Dear Rep. Hastert:

When I first read the news that your office was suggesting a Congressional investigation into the secret U.S. interrogation centers abroad, I naturally assumed that you wanted Congress to get to the bottom of how such a program, if true, could have been sanctioned by the U.S. even as it flies in the face of every international standard of human rights.

Imagine my surprise to read further and discover that you are instead advocating the investigation of the leak of these centers' existence. On the contrary, whoever leaked this information to The Washington Post should be the recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, not the subject of an investigation.

I strongly agree that the protection of our freedoms and the safeguarding of our homeland from terrorist attacks should be among our highest priorities, and I'm not naive enough to believe that questionable covert activities don't take place every day in the interest of protecting those freedoms. But for the U.S. government to sanction, even in secret, the existence of centers designed to torture confessions out of enemy combatants is not only inexcusable, but immoral and illegal under international law.

For your personal benefit, I would strongly suggest you reconsider this "investigation" because I'm afraid it may shine the harsh light of day in some places that the Congress will later wish were allowed to remain in darkness. But proceed at your own risk—although I think it will surprise you that the American people, interested though they are in protecting their own security, will still prefer not to sink to the level of terrorists in the process.

Kind regards,

Cardinal Biggles