When a group of retired U.S. Army generals and Navy admirals formed a study group several years ago in response to then-President Bush's "enhanced interrogation techniques" policy, it invited several religious groups to its Washington, D.C., meetings for educational discussions on interrogations and the evils of torture.
Several of those groups, including the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and an organization of Jewish Rabbis, later issued public statements condemning the use of torture.
At the suggestion of David Irvine, one of the generals in the group and a Mormon, they also invited a representative of the LDS Church's Military Affairs Committee to participate in the discussions.
The retired military leaders' position was clear: Some of the techniques authorized by the Bush Administration fit the legal definition of torture and the use of those techniques put national security at risk as well as risking the well-being of U.S. soldiers in the field.
But when the LDS representative returned from the meetings, according to Irvine, he told church officials that the group of generals and admirals was too liberal, so the church did not take a public position against the policies.
The "liberal" group included a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a general who had held the same position currently held by Gen. David Petraeus and a former Israeli officer who had headed that country's anti-terrorist effort.
To be fair, former Republican presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain refused to meet with the group, because the retired generals and admirals were seen as controversial because they dared question the policies of the president.
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A rising star » Johnny Collinson, an honors student at Brighton High School, is well on his way to becoming the youngest person to climb Mount Everest.
On Thursday, he acclimated to base Camp 2, and on Friday was headed for Camp 3 at about 24,000 feet.
The 16-year-old grew up in Snowbird, where his father was on the ski patrol and his mother taught at a one-room school house in Alta. He began skiing and mountain climbing with his parents when he was a toddler, and now his goal is to be the youngest person to reach the "seven summits," the highest peak of each of the seven continents.
Anyone interested in his progress can log on to his blog, www.johnnycollinson.com.
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Dedicated guy » I have written about Clark Newhall, an attorney and physician in Salt Lake City who tried to buy tickets to Michael Moore's "Sicko" for all Utah legislators, but got the cold shoulder. He also got his colleagues in health reform efforts to send so many faxes to congressional leaders last week, they crashed the fax systems.
Now, he has dished out $35,000 to pay for an ad featuring actor Mike Farrell that advocates for universal health care and is scheduled to begin running on national television this week.
