Keith Burgess-Jackson, J.D., Ph.D.

To the Editor:

Re “The Torture Papers” (editorial, Aug. 26):

You write of Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr.: “Mr. Holder displayed real courage and integrity in ordering the investigation. But he stressed that it was limited to the specific interrogations outlined in the C.I.A. report, and did not amount to a full-blown criminal investigation of the Bush-era detention policies.”

There has not been a terrorist attack on the United States mainland since Sept. 11, and much of the reason can be credited to the policies of the Bush administration and specifically Dick Cheney. The terrorists who attacked us on Sept. 11 were not directed to do so by any country but by Osama bin Laden and Khalid Shaikh Mohammed.

If a poll were taken of the American people, I think that the overwhelming majority would strongly disapprove of this decision. It also sends a message to terrorists worldwide that the United States is a soft-belly adversary.

But the real threat is that such an investigation could result in tying the hands of the C.I.A., which could prove devastating to our security.

Paul Schoenbaum
Williamsburg, Va., Aug. 26, 2009