Who we are is a choice.

When good men, in the face of evil, stoop to the level of their foe, they have ceased to engage in a battle of good versus evil and joined with their enemy, conceding the defeat of their values and ideals.

In 1947 Soldiers who had engaged in the use of ‘water boarding’ when interrogating Allied prisoners were convicted of war crimes. There was no hesitation, nor question, in condemning the practice as torture – until now.

I have been amazed (shocked and amazed) by the willingness of some to resort to actions – abhorrent and inhumane – that would be (and have been) quickly condemned when done by others. The relative ease with which values, long held dear, are put aside, replaced by acts universally recognized as barbaric, causes me pause.

King George has said, “We do not torture”. It is a lie. We do torture.

Torture is no less evil, no less abhorrent, and no less a despicable act when we – America - engage in the practice, than when any other nation does. It should be condemned, and those that practice or condone its use should be prosecuted.

Arundhati Roy, the author of “The God of Small Things”, said “once you’ve seen something, you cannot un-see it”. One can pretend they didn’t see, or profess they didn’t know, or deny they had any complicity, but that too is a lie. Silence is as political an act as any other, albeit the most cowardly.

The ideals and values Americans have long espoused hang in the balance. They will be confirmed or denied by our actions or inactions, and we will bear the burden of living with our choices for many years to come. Virtues and values cannot be claimed only when convenient. We, individually and collectively, either hold dear the rights of human beings or we don’t. And our decision regarding human rights will be known, not by our words or proclamations, but by our actions and practices. We cannot claim to be humane while acting inhumane, nor just while acting unjustly. And, we cannot claim to be lovers of freedom while denying others their basic human rights.