You can’t defeat something you let inside you
Milwaukee: A military judge has reinstated the plea deal for three 9/11 defendants, including alleged mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who are being held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp. The pre-trial agreement had been thrown out by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
The original agreement, negotiated by a military commission, avoided the death penalty in exchange for guilty pleas. Defense lawyers requested life sentences. A key factor in reaching this agreement was that much of the evidence may be inadmissible because it was obtained through the use of torture. KSM was subjected to 183 instances of waterboarding. In addition, FBI memos reveal that interrogators at Guantanamo wrapped terrorism suspects in Israeli flags and forced them to watch homosexual pornography under strobe lights in sessions that lasted up to 18 hours.
In September 2003, Lt. Col. Stuart Couch was assigned to prosecute Guantanamo defendant Mohamedou Ould Slahi. When he learned of the severe abuse Slahi endured, including the threat that his mother could be brought to the naval base and assaulted, Couch refused to prosecute.
He explained: “God means what he says and we were created in his image, and we owe each other a certain level of dignity, a certain level of respect, and that’s just a line we can’t cross. We compromise our own ideals as a nation, then these guys have accomplished much more than driving airplanes into the World Trade Center and into the Pentagon.”
In the words of Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), “Let us not become the evil that we deplore.” Terry Hansen
Day of honor
Bellerose: Today, think about our honored veterans. For 248 years, they have fought to defend those freedoms we hold most dear. I served in the U.S. Navy during the Vietnam era and was proud to have done so. This was one of the proudest parts of my life. I felt I was serving the greater good and preserving democracy in the free world. Veterans Day is a time to remember all veterans. We need to remember the many who lost limbs, hearing and sight, not to mention those who are suffering various mental conditions from being in combat. Let us not forget the many veterans who are homeless and considering suicide. Those who have served our nation did so with pride and devotion to duty so that we might have the freedoms we enjoy today. Frederick Robert Bedell Jr.
Worth 1,000 words
Manhattan: Thank you again, Daily News, for graphically reminding us of the massive destruction that our continued use of fossil fuels costs us Americans — and costs our poor neighbors who emit much less of the fuels’ destructive gases — this time, with your pictures (“Cuba slammed, swamped by Hurricane Rafael,” Nov. 8). Without your making our fuel-use costs perceptible this way, we’ll never learn! Thomas A. Caffrey
I stand corrected
Brooklyn: To Voicer Kevin Mallardi: You are right. I am glad you read my letter. I meant to say 100 calories of steak has six grams of protein. The cow got all of its protein from eating grass. Plants have plenty of protein. A one-pound steak has too much protein and 1,600 calories. John D. Blank
Good guy
Manhattan: I rarely disagree with anything you publish, but the op-ed “The electoral price of hateful prejudice” (Nov. 7) is unfair to Kamala Harris and objectionable to me. A major shortcoming of recent Democratic posturing has been its identification with the educated and sophisticated East and West Coast elites, along with neglect for the blue-collar people in the middle. Yes, Josh Shapiro is a good candidate who would have guaranteed Pennsylvania. But Tim Walz is a military veteran, a well-liked high school football coach from Minnesota, and has been a charming and articulate running mate for Harris. He was an excellent choice. Marc H. Lavietes
Undemocratic
Tamarac, Fla.: The Democratic Party has lost its status as American representatives of our country by consistently trying to gain strength through the destruction of the one person who stood in their way: President-elect Donald Trump. Above welfare and country, the Democrats’ main concern was to destroy and rebuild America their way. Their tactics have been a gross insult to the country and to the party itself. The time has come to change both party names to be more befitting. Roberta Chaleff
Won’t have your back
Wyckoff, N.J.: Re “American Muslims place a bet on Trump” (op-ed, Nov. 9): Sadly, American Muslims will find out what so many other constituencies have already learned: the “let Israel finish the job” guy’s commitments evaporate when the polls close. Marc Schaeffer
Popular support
Hempstead, L.I.: Re “Lucky Donald wins it all once again” (op-ed, Nov. 8): Donald Trump may be lucky, but you don’t win 312 electoral votes and the popular vote by luck. Leslie Feldman
Entrenched illogic
Manhattan: To Voicer Anne Stockton, who wonders how millions could possibly vote for Trump — in my opinion, the most flawed, corrupt and unfit (intellectually, morally and psychologically) person to ever run for office: Anne, just take a look at the pro-Trump letters printed the same day as yours. First, we have the usual nonsense from Voicer Bob Pascarella, with his absurd application of words like “reckless, irrational, ignorant and immature” to Trump detractors. Next, Voicer Michael Peterson, who associates Harris with no job creation (after years of record-breaking job growth), higher crime (it’s down in every major city) and a bad economy (currently, all three major indexes are at or near all-time highs while inflation and gas prices are way down). You simply can’t argue with this kind of illogic. Michael Udolf
‘Anti’ ideology
Bronx: I’m tired of hearing about educated people not voting for Trump. The reason is simple: In the 1960s, many anti-war activists became educators to avoid the draft. They brought with them an anti-war, anti-government philosophy. Simply, they indoctrinate instead of educating their students. We’re seeing the results today among the educated elite. A true educator teaches their students how to think, not what to think. Al D’Angelo
Private time
Manhattan: Imagine Donald Trump, alone in his gilded bedroom, swaying dreamily to his music playlist. He’s wearing his boxers and nothing else. His eyes are half-closed, and on the TV is a video of some of his rallies, muted and playing in the background. He opens his eyes and looks at the screen, smiles and goes back to dancing. He’s alone. Melania has her own bedroom, somewhere far away in Mar-a-Lago. It’s 3 a.m. and Donald is known for not sleeping much. He has no clothes, no boxy suits, to cover his jiggling belly, and his make-up is off for the night. It’s just pure, plain Donald Trump. Dreamy, lost, alone, in his own world. Marcia Epstein
Subversive successor
Manhattan: How about this: President Biden resigns tomorrow. Harris becomes the 47th president for two months (thereby undermining Trump’s latest commercial hock — fake gold cufflinks engraved with “45/47”). She immediately fires Biden’s play-by-the-rules cabinet secretaries and advisors and appoints an entire team of disenchanted Trump castoffs and pit bulls: Bill Barr, John Bolton, Liz Cheney, Mike Pence, Michael Cohen, Gens. Mark Milley and John Kelly, etc. (maybe even Ivanka Trump — not Rudy Giuliani). The last gasp of the Democratic majority Senate will allow for quick confirmations and this team will have time to exact revenge. The 48th president of the United States, Donald J. Trump, might take the oath of office from behind bars! Don Roy King
Shoot your shots
Bronx: Chuck Schumer should have rammed his No Kings Act, which he introduced in August and which is still sitting somewhere on a calendar, through Congress by now and filled each and every vacant judgeship in the nation, just in case. He did not do that. He must do it now. It’s what Mitch McConnell would do. It’s what LBJ, the master of the Senate, would have done. That’s what leadership looks like. Schumer’s call to the Trump administration to embrace bipartisan bills is absolute nonsense and encapsulates how Democrats fail and how we ended up with the judges we have. He should be button-holing each and every sane senator while they’re still sane and while he has the majority instead of proceeding with business as usual — like CHIPS awards. It’s shocking that I have to write to tell him this is not the week to be worrying about awards for specialized glass. Lauren Shapiro
