More and more in recent weeks the term "rendition" has crept into news stories and, eventually, headlines. Still unheard of by many Americans, this term refers to the unorthodox practice by the U.S. government of sending people detained to be interrogated in foreign countries where torture is permissible.

The idea that this horrendous practice is being not only performed but also accepted by the United States government is not only shocking but quite disgusting. What does it mean when an institution that prides itself as the "Land of Liberty" practices and condones such actions? What does this say about the values for which we as Americans think of ourselves with such high regard?

This country is rooted in the values of justice and liberty for all people, as well as a respect for all human life and dignity. How, then, can the current administration work under the banner of the American flag when these values are being trampled on through different policies and executive decisions enacted?

No matter how suspicious the criminal or heinous the actions he/she is suspected of committing, the U.S. government cannot call itself a just and representative one if it continues to send these people into the hands of torturers. The claim that these tortures are not being committed on United States soil and are, therefore, exempt from U.S. standards is irrelevant for the simple fact that a great nation does not only practice its beliefs in its homeland but at all times.

If the United States is going to continue to view itself as that great nation that all others should emulate then it must practice what it preaches. The current administration must immediately discontinue the practice of rendition and instead come to terms with more humane means of extracting information from possible criminals.

This viewpoint was published in The Marquette Tribune on September 15, 2005.