I was disgusted when I saw the letter " Abuse is not enough " (May 25).
A more hateful and misinformed letter has never been published by what I thought was a newspaper that claimed to stand for integrity.
Letter-writer Dave Chelko spouts simple-minded, uninformed rhetoric claiming that because of the events that surrounded Sept. 11, 2001, we clearly have the right to abuse (or even kill) whatever Iraqi prisoners we want.
Most prisoners in Abu Ghraib (70 percent to 90 percent as estimated by the Red Cross) were either completely innocent or in there for a minor infraction. I am certain that Mr. Chelko would not want to be killed if he ran a stop sign or failed to yield at an intersection.
Nobody deserves to be treated the way innocent Iraqi civilians were. Our civility and compassion are what separate us from terrorists. If Chelko believes otherwise, his philosophy does not distinguish him from the hijackers that slaughtered innocent Americans on a clear and sunny September morning.
Wilson RagenNorth Huntingdon
