if we're going to talk about WWII, it should be said that rebuilding germany was a breeze in comparison to iraq. progress has been made, but it's hard to say that the insurgent situation is improving. hopefully we learn from the experience and, in the future, stay away from the quaint ideas of pre-emption, preventative war, indispensable nationhood, unilaterlism, etc.
back to the topic at hand, i thought this was old news when it was first reported. i too am surprised that people are defending what is alleged to be happening. of course, it is easy to say that we should "stick it to" a "foreign terrorist." but it is hard to say how often this is actually happening (or if it is at all)...that is, the right person is harshly interrogated/shipped to romania only to reveal important information. the system doesn't allow for much transparency at all...which might be okay if it weren't for the continual reports of shocking abuse and false arrest.
after reading the tecuba report, watching the abu garib situation, and hearing stories from both prisoners and
soldiers, it is apparent that the systems of brutal interrogation and identifying legitimate terrorists are both seriously flawed. mixing these two flawed elements has been a disaster on several occasions. while this characterization might be incorrect on the whole, the administration won't trust us with information to the contrary. thus, it's hard to give them much leeway for secret jails in the darker corners of the earth.
Captain Ian Fishback notes:
Quote:
Some argue that since our actions are not as horrifying as Al Qaeda's, we should not be concerned. When did Al Qaeda become any type of standard by which we measure the morality of the United States?
Others argue that clear standards will limit the President's ability to wage the War on Terror. Since clear standards only limit interrogation techniques, it is reasonable for me to assume that supporters of this argument desire to use coercion to acquire information from detainees. This is morally inconsistent with the Constitution and justice in war. It is unacceptable.
If we abandon our ideals in the face of adversity and aggression, then those ideals were never really in our possession. I would rather die fighting than give up even the smallest part of the idea that is "America."
|