To the Editor:
Re “On First Day, Obama Quickly Sets a New Tone” (front page, Jan. 22):
For the first time in eight years, I am once again eager to hear the news. I feel reawakened, renewed and reinvigorated in reading about the initial actions taken by President Obama on his first day in office in moving from secrecy to openness not only in access to information but also in the treatment of prisoners.
The winds of change are already blowing across America, and I, for one, can breathe more easily.
Paul M. Wortman
East Setauket, N.Y., Jan. 22, 2009
To the Editor:
President Obama should be applauded for following through on a campaign promise to sign an executive order to close down Guantánamo and other secret prisons. America long led the way and acted as a role model among other nations in giving even the most dreaded alleged criminals basic rights. It will be great to see us retake the leadership role in the Obama administration.
Steven M. Clayton
Ocean, N.J., Jan. 22, 2009
To the Editor:
Re “Obama Reverses Key Bush Policy, but Questions on Detainees Remain” (news article, Jan. 23):
With his executive orders revamping detention and interrogation policy, and mandating the closing of Guantánamo and secret C.I.A. prisons abroad, President Obama has made unmistakably clear that the United States is again committed to the rule of law.
This bold action will help make our country internationally respectable once more, and signals the end of an eight-year-long national legal nightmare.
John S. Koppel
Bethesda, Md., Jan. 23, 2009
Note from KBJ: May each of these men get his very own detainee.
