Speaking against torture

On Thursday, a number of distinguished scholars gathered outside Frist Campus Center to speak out in support of the McCain-Graham amendment against torture. Unfortunately, only a handful of students showed up to support the rally. Attendance was so low, in fact, that the group dispersed before the dean of the Wilson School, Anne-Marie Slaughter '80 could give her scheduled speech.

In light of the importance of the issue, the editorial board finds it disappointing — though hardly surprising — that so few undergraduates came out to participate in the event. The McCain-Graham amendment, which was included in a Department of Defense appropriations bill that passed the Senate 90-9 last month, raises fundamental questions about how we as a nation and an international leader should conduct ourselves in a time of war. This amendment is no small matter — it may, in fact, cause President Bush to exercise the first veto of his career. Given the number of University students who hope to one day serve this nation, it's sobering to see how little discussion this issue is generating on campus.

The Bush administration has actively opposed the McCain-Graham amendment, claiming on one hand that the United States does not use torture in its interrogations of enemy combatants while on the other arguing that the amendment would constrain the president's conduct of the War on Terror. The editorial board respects the work President Bush has done to protect this country. At the same time, we do not believe that the amendment — which opposes cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment as defined by the United States' own UN agreements — will jeopardize national security. Instead, we believe it will reaffirm our commitment to human rights at a time when our country's reputation has been damaged by the abuses at Abu Ghraib and recent accusations that the Central Intelligence Agency has been maintaining secret prisons in Europe where prisoners are tortured.

We therefore applaud Slaughter, in particular, for organizing Thursday's rally in conjunction with the Princeton Progressive Nation. In the same way that President Tilghman's position as a distinguished molecular biologist and leader of one of the nation's most prestigious universities gave her a platform to speak out against the teaching of intelligent design, Slaughter — a highly respected international lawyer and scholar and the leader of one of the nation's finest public policy schools — is in a unique position to speak out against the use of torture by the United States. It is refreshing and inspiring to see leaders like Slaughter and Tilghman use their positions to influence the public debate and provide an academic perspective on pertinent issues of public policy.

Furthermore, we applaud the manner in which Slaughter has approached this issue. By working directly with students involved with the Princeton Progressive Nation to plan Thursday's rally, Slaughter has fulfilled her mission as both a scholar and an educator, and we hope in the future to see similar efforts by professors to engage directly with students who wish to voice opinions on important issues. We also hope that more students will take advantage of these opportunities to partner with experienced scholars and practitioners to contribute to such weighty national debates.