Barak Obama
President of the United States

Dear Mr. President:

After receiving my wings as a Navy Pilot in December1980, I was forced by the
government to attend the US Navy's Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape (SERE) School in
Warner Springs California prior to my assignment as an A-7 attack pilot in Lemoore California.
During this training I was forced to exercise, was sleep deprived, got slapped, was knocked
down, made to sit in my underwear or naked in 20 degree weather in a confined box, had a fire
hose turned on me, and was threatened with a loaded gun. Most importantly my further "torture"
included being chained to a bench, elevated by my feet and "water-boarded" . Because I was
finally "liberated" on President Reagan's inauguration day, the same day the Iranian's released
the American Hostages, I know that Jimmy Carter was president at the time of my incarceration in
SERE school. Will you please call for an investigation into why Jimmy Carter and every president
since the Vietnam War ended has felt our foreign threats were so important that it was necessary
to systematically torture US Navy Pilots on a weekly basis through the use of "water-boarding" .

Since a call is being made now to investigate and prosecute members of the Bush Administration
responsible for water-boarding AI-Qaeda terrorist who attacked our country, I believe it is even
more necessary to investigate those responsible for torturing Navy Pilots tasked with defending
our country. Also, since the experiences of former Vietnam War POW's led to the development
of the Navy's SERE Training and torture of Navy Pilots, can you please call for an
investigation into why Senator John McCain (a former POW, Navy Pilot, and occasional guest
speaker at the SERE School) has never spoken out against the systematic torture of US Navy
Pilots yet is deeply concerned about the use of the same techniques against the architects of the
worst attack on American soil since Pearl Harbor.

If any person in the Bush Administration is convicted of torturing AI Qaeda terrorists I
think a class action lawsuit should be filed against the US Government by every Navy Pilot who
has been water-boarded. The defendants should be every living president since Jimmy Carter,
including Bill Clinton, and all key players in their State, Defense and Justice Departments.
Certainly there has to be a compelling National Security Argument with legal rationalization to
justify the systematic use of this "torture" against US Navy Pilots particularly if it is illegal to use
these techniques against our enemies.

Sincerely,

William XXXXXXX
LCDR USNR (inactive)

PS: I was sworn to secrecy on this issue and told that I would be prosecuted if I ever divulged
these national training secrets. I believe that this was an attempt by the Carter Administration to
"cover up" their complicity in torturing US Navy Pilots. You might call it "Water-Board Gate".
Please use that Harvard Law degree of yours, that the sacrifices of Navy Pilots let you earn, to
thoroughly investigate the complicity of Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton in torturing US Navy Pilotsa
much greater travesty than actually torturing our enemies. Oh, by the way, water-boarding
works!

Cc: Nancy Pelosi: Speaker of the US House of Representatives
Harry Reid: President of the Senate
Newt Gingrich: Former Speaker of the US House of representative