Susan Albright is the editor of the editorial page at the Minneapolis Star Tribune. When one of our readers wrote the publisher of the paper to protest the paper's disgraceful editorial seconding of Dick Durbin's condemnation of the American detention operation at Guantanamo, the publisher forwarded the message to Albright for response. Ladies and gentlemen, courtesy of our reader, here are the deep thoughts of Susan Albright:...

"We thought that the senator's main concern merited attention: Should the United States live up to its treaty obligations to treat prisoners humanely?

He spoke of Colin Powell's advice, which was not taken, to follow the Geneva Conventions in dealing with prisoners taken in Afghanistan and Iraq. He then quoted from what an FBI agent had personally seen at Guantanamo...."

One would think that the editorial guru of a major American newspaper might trouble herself in this context to establish the veracity of the premise of her argument -- that the American treatment of enemy combatants at Guantanamo violates the Geneva Conventions. Students of logical argument are familiar with the fallacy of assuming the conclusion to be proved. It is referred to as begging the question. At the Star Tribune, however, the beguiling repetition of an ignorant refrain apparently produces a soothing effect that obscures basic fallacies.

The acknowledgement was made in a report submitted to the UN Committee against Torture, said a member of the ten-person panel, speaking on condition of anonymity.