I strongly suggest anyone who agrees with letter writer Max Obuszewski's idea to punish the CIA personnel who did their job under the direction of our government read about the torture inflicted upon our own troops in past wars and conflicts ("Failure to punish the CIA torturers means they will do it again," Dec. 14).
Should we do as ISIS does and chop their heads off on the Internet for everyone to see? Should we put bamboo shoots under their fingernails until they talk? Should we skin them alive? How about we just hack off digits till they talk? These things were done to our own military in the last wars and are still being done by our enemies to their prisoners.
Torture is not the answer to every interrogation, but it is usually the last method ever used. Don't you think the CIA first tried to talk to these people? Having spent 20 years in the military and being a Vietnam combat veteran, I can attest to the fact that these people in the CIA do have to live with themselves for what they have done as part of their jobs. I can speak from first hand knowledge that the government does these same types of torture to our own troops in survival schools to prepare them for the reality of ever being caught. The troops volunteer for these schools and to be in harm's way. They know that their training will be the closest to the real thing possible. You volunteer for special operations jobs and you do your best.
Now, if you want to punish anyone, go after our enemies and not the people trying to protect our freedom. Isn't the life of one of our enemies worth the information that was given during a torture session? Ask the families of the people killed in the World Trade Center attack if they would have minded torturing the people who flew the planes into the building. It is not nice but it is a fact of war. We are at war if you want to believe it or not. This is a fact, and someone has to do the dirty work. If you do not like the methods used by our government, go find another country to live in. Do not punish the people who are trying to save you!
Jim Hironimus