FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                             Contact:  Rhonda Schaffler

02/25/10                                                                                                      e-mail:  xxxxxxxxxx.net

                                                                                                                       Phone: xxx-xxx-xxxx

Local Author to Speak on Torture

Former newsman to discuss timely issue

West Windsor—John Wydra, author of What Hath Bush Wrought? will address a breakfast meeting to be held from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 14, 2010 at Beth Chaim Synagogue in Princeton Junction, New Jersey.  Titled “The Morality of Torture,” Wydra’s presentation will examine an issue that is constantly in the media.

            In recent weeks, there have been stories in the news about CIA rendition flights to Poland, a decision to not pursue charges against two former Justice Department lawyers who wrote the so-called “torture memos,” assertions by former vice president Dick Cheney that employing “enhanced interrogations” of “illegal enemy combatants” provides intelligence that is important to the nation’s security, and the pending 9/11 trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, who was tortured repeatedly by U.S. agents.

            Wydra says:  “The U.S. has employed systematic methods of torture in an attempt to gain counterterrorism information from many detainees held at multiple locations.  Beyond any legal question,” said Wydra, “there are serious moral and ethical issues and consequences.  At what point and under what aegis is it acceptable to decide that the “greater good” requires the involuntary sacrifices of a relatively few number of individuals who we believe have important information?” 

            Wydra’s speech at Beth Chaim will be open to the public.  Anyone interested in attending should call the Temple office at 609-799-9401 for more information and reservations.  His book will be available for sale and author signing.

            John Wydra is a former anchorman and reporter for WCBS Newsradio in New York City and at KYW Newsradio and Television in Philadelphia.  His assignments included covering events in Eastern Europe and the volatile Middle East.  In 2002, Wydra was the recipient of the New York Festivals World Gold Medal for Commentary, one of many awards he received during his career.

            (For media review copies of What Hath Bush Wrought?, contact Rhonda Schaffler above or the author directly at johnwydra@wydeworld.com.)

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