Dodd and America’s ‘moral authority’

Re “What my father saw at Nuremberg,” Opinion, Oct. 1

When politics bloom, rewriting history becomes fair game. However, Sen. [Christopher] Dodd extrapolates beyond reason to prove his point. “When we entered World War II, we did not fight for land or for treasure -- we fought for an idea.” Noble, but not factual. Born in 1944, Dodd has an excuse for not remembering that America entered the war after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and Germany declared war. Their actions provided the cause.

During 35 years in the military, I knew no World War II veteran who risked his life so that enemy prisoners of war could benefit from habeas corpus or due process. Our orders required treating enemy prisoners in accordance with the Geneva Convention, not our Bill of Rights.

Dodd implies that detaining enemy prisoners at Guantanamo without the constitutional rights of American citizens is vengeance. He labels our process as a loss of moral authority and an injustice. Because enemy prisoners at Guantanamo are not American citizens, our adherence to the Geneva Convention is neither immoral nor unjust and certainly not vengeance.

LLOYD LEAVITT

La Quinta

The writer is a retired Air Force lieutenant general.

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Hear, hear to Dodd. It’s not about what terrorists do. It’s about what we do, and we should be held to higher standards, because we’re about higher standards, and those of us who don’t understand this should not be in a position to be our leaders.

DOUGLAS BLAND

Los Angeles

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I would like to thank Dodd for his committed public service. But I would also like to request that he drop the “moral authority of America” rhetoric that plays right into the hands of the Bush administration, which makes lofty claims of upholding the “ideals” of democracy and American superiority.

Instead, I wish we could return to the basics of what make us proud Americans and upstanding world citizens. To paraphrase former Czech Republic President Vaclav Havel, a man who for decades agitated against the totalitarian regime of his own country: Abstract ideas should never outweigh respect for human lives.

BARBARA ZARAGOZA

San Diego