On Guantanamo

I agree with Tim Rutten that it is wrong to hide what is happening at Guantanamo [“Secrecy Surrounds Guantanamo Bay,” June 17], but the Bush administration is only part of the problem, and perhaps not the biggest problem. The bigger problem is that a very large chunk of the American voting public believes that what is being done by the Bush administration is the right thing to do.

My thought is that we need more reporters going to Kansas to explore why Guantanamo is of no concern to so many people in that part of the country, so that perhaps we can learn how to change the hearts of Americans.

MICHAEL ERNSTOFF

Los Angeles

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RUTTEN laments the fact that reporters aren’t allowed detainee access. It is obvious why: the detainees would use reporters as propaganda tools.

Rutten says the administration has something to hide and fear. These jihadis should be hidden from public view with a news blackout so their propaganda value is reduced to as close to zero as possible. What Bush has to fear is what we all have to fear: that these devils will be freed out of misguided domestic sentiment to kill again.

TERRY NUGENT

La Grange Highlands, Ill.