Torture admission would help restore U.S. standing in world

I was a child in Beirut, Lebanon, when my American teacher told me the story of George Washington and the cherry tree. She also told me about Abraham Lincoln who freed the slaves. I never forgot these stories and felt immediately that I had kindred spirits across the ocean. Many years later, I became a United States citizen and held my head high as an American. I believed in this country's constitutional and ethical values – and most of all, in its justice.

Then 9/11 happened and our world changed forever. I was supposed to meet with President Bush at the White House that afternoon; instead we...