Attorney General John Ashcroft rejected calls by Congress Tuesday to discuss or release secret government memos that reportedly determined the Bush administration could ignore domestic and international laws and allow U.S. interrogators to torture detainees. According to news reports, one 50-page Justice Department memo said inflicting physical or psychological pain might be justified if it was done in order “to prevent further attacks on the United States by the al Qaeda terrorist network.” The administration’s support for the use of torture has been widely criticized by human rights groups. Today several of the country’s major newspapers weigh in with editorials. The Washington Post writes “Theirs is the logic of criminal regimes, of dictatorships around the world that sanction torture on grounds of 'national security.'