It’s an evil word, and an evil topic. My country tortures its prisoners and I don’t like it. In fact, I’m ashamed about it. We tortured during Viet Nam, and (possibly) during Korea. There wasn’t too much torturing done during WWII because we had enlightened government then, and a nation united for a common cause. Millions of Americans were in the Armed Forces, and they had all been raised in a culture that saw our nation as the “good guys.”

Last week the WaPo had an article explaining how the Army specifically got a lot of tactical and strategic information out of German prisoners: treating them decently and forging a bond with them.

When about two dozen veterans got together yesterday for the first time since the 1940s, many of the proud men lamented the chasm between the way they conducted interrogations during the war and the harsh measures used today in questioning terrorism suspects.

Back then, they and their commanders wrestled with the morality of bugging prisoners' cells with listening devices. They felt bad about censoring letters. They took prisoners out for steak dinners to soften them up. They played games with them.

"We got more information out of a German general with a game of chess or Ping-Pong than they do today, with their torture," said Henry Kolm, 90, an MIT physicist who had been assigned to play chess in Germany with Hitler's deputy, Rudolf Hess.

I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had asked President Roosevelt or GEN Marshall how prisoners should be treated. (We’re talking mainly about German and Italian prisoners, because we were already learning that our Japanese enemies would not be taken prisoner.) I’m confident they were horrified at the very idea of harsh treatment because that would lower us to the level of the evil political ideology we were fighting.

If you respect a man you’re more likely to get him to cooperate with you, unless you’re someone who has spent his life demanding others kowtow to you and consequently hold them in contempt.

Friday’s Boston Globe had an article written by Francis X Stone, a retired LTC of the US Air Force who was involved in prisoner interrogation during Viet Nam.

ALL OF the approaches to interrogation supported by President Bush as "nontorture" (head slapping, freezing temperatures, water boarding) qualify as torture under international law[.]

During my last year in Vietnam, 1968 to '69, I was in charge of US Air Force interrogation of Viet Cong and North Vietnamese Army prisoners. None of what Bush labels as legal was legal under the Geneva Conventions, to which the United States is still a signatory. US Army, Marine, and Army of Republic of Vietnam personnel were constantly amazed at the interrogation results produced by the Air Force, and we were never allowed to touch prisoners, let alone head-slap them. Every human being has needs, and we learned those needs and exploited them. Neither Bush's bullying approach in the Mideast nor his unlawful interrogation program has worked. Sophisticated psychological methods are not being used by the Bush people, so the alleged "nontorture" bullying will continue.

I don’t know what Mr Stone is doing with himself these days, but I commend his honor and his honesty. This pack of criminals are bullies. They got that way because they were privileged growing up. I’m not talking about the “formative years” of pre-teen childhood, although you can often find the man if you look at the child then. I’m thinking of the 30s and 40s when men start to achieve a small level of success and influence. People who skated during their teens and 20s and learned how to manipulate others for their own benefit don’t change as they gain more power and influence. They just become more corrupt. They learn to view those of us around them as sheep, victims, and treat us contemptuously.

It’s certainly not surprising that Mr Bu$h and Mr Cheney have encouraged – or ordered – our uniformed leaders to torture. Looking back at them years ago, we can see it would have been surprising if they had not done so.

Torture isn’t a policy but rather a lack of a policy. It’s a behavior that is significant because of those who demand such bestiality. The authoritarian mind is weak, and seeks hierarchical approval for its base instincts.

Toughness isn’t a physical quality, nor is having a hard heart. It’s a part of being raised with the qualities of morality and ethics foremost in your mind.