Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for this depiction of true depravity. Journalism at it's finest. If the term "crimes against humanity" is to have meaning, we most certainly should examine our American leaders' rationale for what you have shown us. I am sickened to see brave young Americans jumping on backs of shackled prisoners, and savagely beating them with gun butts. It is our leaders, not the troops, who should be brought to explain this conduct. Senator McCain is the expert here and should be consulted on what he surely knows is uncivilized and reprehensible behavior.

Jack Brusasco
Saint Louis, MO

Dear FRONTLINE,

If the goal of the terrorists was to harm America your report aptly demonstrates how they have. The whole point of "due" process is to afford it to those who we might think deserve it the least. When the pursuit of terrorists allows for the complete disregard of the most basic human rights then the terrorists would seem to have already won.

James Stribopoulos
Toronto, Ontario

Dear FRONTLINE,

Even before 9-11 and the 1993 attack on the WTC, terrorists were attacking non-Islamic facilities or possessions. The goal of Islamic terrorists are world domination under the Islamic rule. When terrorists attack, they should not be covered by rules of the Geneva Convention. Because of the Jihad against everyone outside Islam, every nation is at risk, not just the US, but all non-Islamic people. Until this is accepted, we will handicap ourselves to a point of extreme weakness.

I object to your presenting this segment at this time. The men and women charged with defeating this enemy should be allowed to do their job without every action scrutinized by a liberal media. To do so jeopardizes our military forces. Any violation of rules of war should be investigated and handled through proper channels. To air this segment as you did tonite is a veiled attempt to try our President and leaders through the court of popular opinion. Do you not realize the assistance you are providing our enemies? This showing was at the wrong time, for the wrong reason. When terrorists are attacking us on our own soil maybe the gravity of the situation will become apparent to the people responsible for producing this program.

jim free
North Augusta, SC

Dear FRONTLINE,

Thank you for airing this. It is good to see vestiges of a free press that will tell it like it is. It amazes me that the same people who make "morality" such an issue at election time can encourage and authorize such "immoral" behavior. I never thought I would live to see such brutality and sadism taking place in our name, with our tax dollars. It was nauseating. The saddest part was seeing what the brutality was doing to our own troops - how will they ever be the same when they return to their families, to their wives and children, after being part of such brutality. It is as if they lost their souls. I'm proud of the ones who realized the evil and were brave enough to tell their story on your show. Please continue to produce provocative programming. The American public needs to be awakened to what it being done by their government.

Kate Murphy
Raleigh, NC

Dear FRONTLINE,

The basics of your show were not new to me. I have been following the creeping of torture and its aftermath since Guantanamo was first set up. I watched the show with my mother and she asked me how and why I knew this stuff. I said, "I guess because I'm a lawyer trained to uphold the United States Constitution. And I think it's my patriotic duty to make sure my country doesn't descend into the muck that makes up our enemies." Thanks for bringing it into the homes of my fellow Americans.

It is sad that some watchers felt, "how many Americans have PBS placed in danger by enraging a huge muslim population with this report" when the real question is how many Americans have been endangered by the people encouraging such behavior. You are doing your job in bringing torture to light. American citizens must do their job in not standing for it and calling for the resignations and demotions of those people in charge of making the orders, not just the soldiers carrying them out. Attorneys are doing their jobs when they refuse to take part in kangaroo courts. Psychiatrists must refuse to participate. Doctors and soldiers must be willing to refuse as well. Our senators and congressmen must not confirm nominees for Attorney General and Supreme Court who had any possibility of helping to frame a torture directive. Each citizen must refuse to cooperate in such dehumanizing and uncivilized behavior. The torture hurts not just the person tortured but also the torturer who can never again be a fully active participant in a healthy society.

Isobel Sturgeon
Fort Lauderdale, FL

Dear FRONTLINE,

Disturbing, sad, heart-rending. The myth of American superiority is again exposed. I have never believed that it was a few bad apples that perpetrated these atrocities. It was, and is, the policy of this administration to bend rules that get in the way of their goals.

The brave young men who dared to discuss this on camera deserve our gratitude. They have nothing to gain by risking themselves this way. They will surely be tarred by Bush's henchmen in another campaign of the character assassination the specialize in. The Army brass and the reprobates that populate this administration, on the other hand, have everything to gain by denying the truth.

How laughable and shameful it is for Bush and his people to wear their Christianity as a badge, while flouting all that Christ's life embodied! The end truly justifies the means in the Bush administration. Like the Cowardly Lion, who only lacked a testimonial to verify his courage, this administration only lacks a stint in prison to verify their criminality.

sam folmar
columbus, ohio

Dear FRONTLINE,

If 'the shoe were on the other foot' would these same prisoners have cared about our dignity?

Dead hostages aren't around to tell you how they feel.

Helen Melon

Dear FRONTLINE,

Your piece was particularly compelling as a veteran of the military forces. I am a patriot to the heart and would die for my country. I believe that America has always set the standard for other states and countries to follow. In this instance we fell short of setting any respectable standard. What happened to those innocent "until proven guilty" citizens was appalling -we failed to give them the very freedoms we expect ourselves. I find it hard to believe that each and every individual arrested and treated in such a manner was a terrorist. We made bad choices and in the end persecuted US Army soldiers that were doing what was explained and introduced to them as a means of interrogation. We redirected the blame as to shadow the White House for their actual involvement. US Military officers and government officials awarded innovation, the soldiers delivered.

As a solider it was a hard day for me because I stand proud for America...what was presented here falls short of American values. Thank you for such a brave, compelling and informative piece.

Jamie P.
Rouses Point, NY

Dear FRONTLINE,

While I agree that torture is the way of the past I also feel one should look deeper into the subject. I really don't count much of what was done in Abu Ghraib as torture. Humiliation and using ones belifes against them have long been staples of psychological warfare and in the correct context can be usefull in obtaining information.

I do agree that some of thier methods overstepped what we as Americans strive to represent and they should be punished for these crimes but many of the most played out examples, such as the naked pyramid cause no physical harm but merely played upon the Islamic morays.

Frank Edwards

Dear FRONTLINE,

It seems we need to publicly denounce the crimes we've committed and punish all responsible for exacerbating an already tenuous situation. After everyone responsible is sufficiently and publicly held accountable, we then need to focus on new methods of extracting information and ways to alleviate the anguish our troops are going through while they are there. I am so sorry for everyone who is going through this and for our young troops who are being attacked on a daily basis. It is a horrible, difficult situation with so many jagged edges. I hope that through it all, we can still call it like it is and agree that torture is not an option for us in any circumstance. We are a great country, and we should feel compelled to uphold the highest standards of humanity. Thank you so much for your candid report. I'm glad that you didn't sugar-coat any of it. Someday, we won't have wars and people will love each other, not in spite of their differences, but because of their differences.

Lysa Hawke

Dear FRONTLINE,

I think that Americans may have a quixotic view of our great nation. While there is much to love about America, it is as if the ears of its denizens are deaf to any criticism of it. As a people who value freedom of speech, I think many may be under the impression that everything that our government (federal) does is disclosed to us by the media. However, we are not privy to much information about deplorable actions that our goverment or companies are perpetrating in other countries. Considering this I think that we, as a nation, should be humbled by scandals like these torture travesties. Perhaps we should be doing some introverted self-reflection as a nation, instead of always examining the goings-on of other governments. We must, one day, come to realize that America is not only home of the free and land of the brave, but it may also be home of the sadistic and land of the ignorant.

Jennifer Williams
College Station , TX

Dear FRONTLINE,

I truly believe that many future generations of Americans will be apologizing to the Iraqi people for the power we gave to Mr. Rumsfeld. His name will forever be a name linked with creating one of Americas worst national embarrassments. His legacy is one of promoting terror in a "war on terror".

Americans will forever be forced to show evidence we are better than that now. Our embarrassment of electing twice the man who gave the power to Mr. Rumsfeld will forever remind and warn the people of the world of our stupidity. Unchecked power in the hands of stupid people brings great suffering. And great suffering brings death to innocence.

Thanks Rummy. Did you ever get any information to make me safer in my own home? Show me. Even if you apologize to those innocent Iraqi men who were caught up in the net and had nothing to offer your interrogators or apologized to the world for using terror or even apologized to the American people for being too stupid to wield the power you have been given you will not escape the legacy you have left behind. We can only pray we as Americans will learn and try to put smarter people in charge.

Dave Mardis
Norman, Oklahoma

Dear FRONTLINE,

The information in the program was not new to me. What I found "interesting" are the "postings". You can sure tell who "thinks" for themselves and who follows the "Limbough" crowd. When some folks hear the truth,and it is different that what they have been led to believe, it hits them in the gut and denial comes out SCREAMING. I don't really think that the "enemy" is sitting home in their living rooms watching Frontline.

s Nelson
Germantown , Wi

Dear FRONTLINE,

Hearts and minds are the strategic objective in Iraq. Every tortured prisoner is lost. When they and their stories circulate, when people are abused in their homes, their families and friends are lost as well. To promote and encourage decency, civility, and the rule of law, while beating the citizenry, arresting nearly at random, and expecting low level staff to be "creative", transforms a very difficult task all into one that is nearly impossible.

Peter Silva

Dear FRONTLINE,

God Bless America!

In order to defeat your enemy you have to think like your enemy and at times behave like your enemy, even if the rest of the country cringes at your behavior. We look like novices in the military theater arena when under the guise of civilized fighting, we rule out the use abhorrent intellegence-gathering practices. Stop making our military the scapegoats for political purposes. If we commit to war as a nation, it has to be to win and not to second guess our professional warriors, for they have a job to do in order to improve outcomes for our nation. It is they and their countless sacrafices that has kept this country the envy of the rest of the world. We can't fight with one hand tied behind our back and expect victorious outcomes. Our enemies rejoice because they believe that we as a nation do not have the backbone or stomach to condone said behavior as a means to an end. When we undertook the search for WMD, it was with the understanding that things would get ugly, pretty ugly before it got better. Just ask the family of a patriot whose life might have been saved by timely intellegence.

Jorge Pastor
Staten Island, New York