To the editor:

I disagree with many things in Bill McClellan’s column (Journal-World, May 2), “Turn the page on torture,” in which he urges President Obama to squelch prosecution of people involved in torturing detainees. But the one line that stands out for me is: “Truth is, Mr. President, most of us don’t care that much about torture anyway.”

That’s a pretty chilling claim to make. Unless McClellan has data to back it up, he should not presume to speak for most Americans. I, for one, am horrified that our country has practiced torture and I know there are many Americans who feel the same. I don’t seek retribution for political purposes; I want to prevent more torture in the future. I believe that if we hold no one accountable, if we pretend torture did not happen, we invite it to happen again.

McClellan acknowledges that our country has done reprehensible things before — genocide, slavery, supporting brutal regimes, to name a few. Referring to these things, McClellan says, “One thing we’ve always been good about is turning the page. We can learn from our mistakes without wallowing in them.”

I would challenge McClellan to say what we have we learned from these injustices he calls mistakes. Our practice of torture in the 21st century suggests we haven’t learned much, and exposes McClellan’s cheery prattle as so much rationalization.

I fear that if follow McClellan’s advice to simply “turn the page,” America will commit more atrocities to be “learned from” in the years to come.