HYPOCRICY AND TORTURE

The UK and US governments are fond of claiming that they have strict moral rules against the use of torture in dealing with enemies. Recent disclosures from a high ranking ally seems to cast doubt on that claim however."Former Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf has cast doubt on Britain's public stance that countries should not torture British citizens on its behalf. He said he was never told that was the policy and this may have been "tacit approval of whatever we were doing". His comments raise questions about how much MI5 knew about torture being used in the fight against al-Qaeda." (BBC News, 14 March) The truth is that in the struggle for markets and the sources of raw materials countries go to war and there has never been a war yet that was fought in a decent or moral fashion. RD