They're baaaaaack! The religious left's ghostbusters are swirling out of the closets of yesterday's peace movement. Vigils, protests, full-page ads - the whole nine yards.

According to the WashingtonPost, a statement is being published in ads backed by a new organization called the National Religious Campaign Against Torture. They accuse the United States and the Bush administration of human rights abuses at detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Gitmo.

The Red Cross routinely interviews detainees. It finds these accusations have no substance. My friends, prison is not a wine and cheese concert, a yoga class or a Jacuzzi party.

The knee-jerk ad assumes the guilt of the United States and its elected executive. It states: "Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person, that all religions, in their highest ideals, hold dear. It degrades everyone involved, policymakers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished values. Any policies that permit torture and inhuman treatment are shocking and morally intolerable."

As the president has said many times, in the words of his spokesman: "This government does not torture, and we adhere to the international conventions against torture. That it is our policy, and it will remain our policy."

The National Religious Campaign Against Torture is a front for the gaggles of leftists at the National Council of Churches and the same old leftovers from the Vietnam era. I get nauseous when I see them sing the Star-Spangled Banner or recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

To the blame-America-first crowd at the NCC, I say: Get real. Protest the beheading of civilians. Protest cowardly attacks on public buildings. Protest the hijacking of commercial airliners. Protest Muslim children becoming suicide bombs. Protest the bombing of London subways and buses and the USS Cole. Get a life.

RON FIGULY

Wolfeboro