Speaking out against torture

newsday: England's former ambassador to Uzbekistan and a former general in charge of the Abu Ghraib prison during the 2004 abuse scandal there were among legal scholars and activists speaking out against the Bush administration's handling of the war on terror yesterday at Manhattan's Riverside Church.

Craig Murray, ousted as Britain's ambassador to Uzbekistan after he criticized the use of intelligence gained through torture, said Uzbek security forces supplying interrogation findings to the CIA used torture "on an industrial scale."

"I would rather die than to have [innocent people] tortured to save my life," Murray said, drawing applause from the crowd of more than 500 people.

His appearance followed a Friday radio interview in which he said, "We're not talking about marginal definitions of torture. The U.S. knew this was happening and encouraged it by being prepared to accept and give credence to the results of it."

Murray said in its quest to secure increasingly scarce oil and gas supplies, the Bush administration is fanning anti-American sentiments in the Islamic world. "They are making America a much more dangerous place," he said. Read more