Arlen Specter: “I am writing to the President of the United States today concerning what I consider to be a very important subject, and…”

“I am writing to the President of the United States today concerning what I consider to be a very important subject, and that is the interrogation of the al-Qaida and Taliban war captives, where an issue has been raised as to whether they are prisoners of war or what is their status, with some people objecting to what is going on in the way they are being handled. There is no doubt that the captives are entitled to humane treatment. There have been inspection tours by national observers and by congressional observers. The reports are uniform that the captives are being treated humanely. They are being fed and clothed. There is medical care. They are permitted to attend to their religious activities. All of this is totally separate and apart from the basic availability of those individuals to be questioned, where information which they might provide could shed light on the possibility of additional terrorist attacks. Having some experience as an investigator and a prosecutor, I know firsthand the value of interrogation and intensive interrogation. We are facing at this moment an enormous threat from al-Qaida.”