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Excellent , very much echoing Amnesty International's experience in examining human rights abuses flowing from the counter-terrorism measures being taken by many countries.

This theme has been at the core of the last two Amnesty annual lectures given in Belfast, last Autumn by lawyer for many Guantanamo detainees, , and previously by one of his former clients, .

We have listened to the of abuses perpetrated by their own or other governments, carried out in the name of 'security' in the context of the so-called 'war on terror'.

The lead given by United States (and supported or acquiesced to by our own government), in its use of secret detention camps, torture and other illegal methods, is all too readily followed by other governments which wish to suppress political opposition or even minorities with their borders.

Governments have the right to protect their citizens from the threat of terrorism, but their response must not be a further abuse of human rights and an erosion of the rule of law.

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The conclusion is false. The terrorism in Northern Ireland was not waged against an implacable enemy of alien origins who will accept nothing but complete annihilation of its adversary in the pursuit of its political agenda the way Islamofascism whether of Sunni or Shia stripe has it. The IRA was not hell bent on the utter destruction of Northern Ireland or England, it merely wanted a change in political leadership. In the end, it proved that there came a point where the price was simply too great to pay for that goal and it relented. This will not be so with Islamofascism. Further insight into the true nature of Islamofascism can be had by reviewing this week's edition of "The Interview" on ±«Óãtv's website in which the author Martin Amis gives his opinions and points to the naivete' of many western governments and societies about what they face. His prescription for dealing with it however is IMO way off the mark. In an era of WMDs where the failure to discover a terrorist plot can result in the deaths of thousands, even millions, blind obedience to a moral or ethical code where some methods of extracting information are regarded as too brutal or inhuman to consider using is a dangerous indulgence we cannot afford except at our own extreme peril. In testimony this week before a Congressional committee, the CIA has admitted to the use of waterboarding on three occasions including that of the mastermind of the 9-11 attacks, Khalid Sheik Mohammed. There comes a time when self preservation must take precedence over abstract intellectual exercises in morality or we may not survive. Frankly, I don't care what the law is, I think that intelligence organizations like the CIA and its counterparts in other nations will do whatever they feel is necessary to protect their societies and see it as their patriotic duty and their duty in defending civilization. However lamentable it may be, it is clearly the lesser of the evils.

Hi William,

I - and no doubt, others - would have enjoyed the discussion yesterday on this had you not had Mr Vance "commenting" on it.

I can only assume that he is the equivalent of what "Talkback" used to do when they featured The Hole in the Wall Gang in a slot near the end of the programme.

Such a serious subject and issue to feature this utter buffoon whose apparent "concern for human life" was almost laughably contrasted with his demand that Al Queda "all be killed."

Yes, along with hundreds of thousands of others (to date)in the "War on Terror." But then again, most of those weren't either Christian or white skinned. Unlike Mr Vance - of course.

I'll leave it to others to judge whether calling for mass killing - as he does frequently on his blog - and any recognisable sort of Christianity are in fact compatible.