In a guest editorial in last week’s issue of The Arab American News, Kareem Shora, executive director of the national American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, called on the Obama administration to “correct the mistakes born out of the Bush-Cheney counterterrorism policies, including the CIA’s use of torture.” Shora’s call came on the heels of the release of a CIA report regarding that program and the Obama administration’s decision to launch a Department of Justice investigation into the program. The following letters to the editor represent a sampling of the response we received to Shora’s call:

To the editor:

Definitely CIA officials, both past and present, want to stop any investigation by the Department of Justice that would expose their use of torture against detainees denied any rights of defense in a court of law. The Justice Department must stand firm against all pressure to stop exposure of past CIA criminal actions — otherwise America will become a nation without laws and with a blatant disregard for human rights. Under George Bush we were well on the road to achieving this nefarious goal!!! Let us hope Obama has the moral fiber to withstand whatever political pressure is exerted on him and that he will continue to allow his Attorney General, Eric Holder, to pursue those who seek to destroy all that America has held sacred: individual liberty, habeus corpus and freedom of expression.

Norma Dosky, Reston, Va.

To the editor:

How could any reasonable and sane thinking person disagree with Kareem Shora’s oped? Yet there are many who do. The Bush-Cheney administration has struck more fear into the hearts of Americans than Al-Qaeda attacks and propaganda ever could. In a state with the highest unemployment rate in the country, Governor Jennifer Granholm is still withholding her permission to grant the federal government the use of one of our prisons that is about to close. Contracting with the Feds to house suspected terrorists in our unused detention centers would create hundreds of very good paying jobs with excellent benefits. All those Americans who were screaming for revenge when we invaded Iraq are now shaking in their boots at the prospect of some 15 year old Afghan kid who was arrested in a general sweep by American forces being detained in one of our maximum security prisons that no one has ever escaped from. The Bush-Cheney team did indeed leave a legacy. Fear has taken over the American spirit.

Ron Amen, Livonia, Mich.

To the editor:

I believe that it is very important that the full facts of who ordered and directed the human torture must be exposed. I do not believe that American people did this and I strongly believe that outside contractors were brought in. The outside contractors have a strong history of torturing Arab people and they are probably experts on torturing defenseless people. We Americans are not like our good friends in the Middle East.

Joseph J Bedway, Pottsville, Pa.

To the editor:

With the release of the CIA report detailing torture methods in secret prisons, we are at a critical juncture with an opportunity to regain our nation’s credibility in the world. The acts described in the report are morally reprehensible and a direct affront to our American values and international human rights. With the release of the CIA report and the Obama administration’s decision to launch a Department of Justice investigation, our nation is in a struggle for the definition of what it means to be American in an admittedly dangerous and sometimes hostile world. Our worst enemies are those few individuals, on all sides, who act based on their emotions and in response to perceived injustice or pending national tragedy. It is time we learn from our historical mistakes born out of the Bush-Cheney counterterrorism policies and understand once and for all that the politics of fear, including the use of torture, have no place in this magnificent mosaic, the nation of nations we call the United States of America.

Curtis Robinson, Portland, Maine

To the editor:

As a U.S. citizen I am shocked, horrified and outraged by the policies regarding torture from the Bush years. This situation must be stopped. To speak plainly, torture is un-American. Put an end to it and stop disgracing our country. No more torture. and prosecute everyone who was involved in these policies. Do it for America.

Debra DeMars, Amherst, Mass.

To the editor:

The Shora oped on wrongful and ineffective Bush-Cheney anti-terrorism policies was right on the money. I’m just sorry that the oped did not appear in more newspapers and magazines. American Muslim, Jews, and Christians, like myself, want to help to end these policies, and to effect a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. They have supported organizations like the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, the Islamic Society of North America, End the Occupation, and others to end the illegal and immoral policies of our American government. Isn’t it now time for these organizations to get together, to develop and implement a unified game plan to ensure these goals are met?

Mrs. Alphecca Muttardy, Falls Church, Va.