Folks
have been saying lately that torture is a natural part of war, and I'm thinking
that that's one good reason not to start an unnecessary one. What this Administration
has done in the last year or so is to put
torture back on the international table. Setting the aside the idea that as
human beings might oughtn't go around torturing people or putting others in a
position to act as torturers, this is so damn dangerous because – and I can’t
even believe this needs to be said -- when the gloves
come off, they're off all around. No, non-state terrorist groups won’t abide
by Geneva Conventions, and in large part that sort of disregard for civilized
behavior is what makes them the bad guys. But what we’ve done has legitimized
the torture of American military and civilians by any other nation in which we
come into conflict. Also, in our doing so, we're quite quickly eroding the moral
authority we should have as a nation of laws and freedoms and order and decency
-- a moral authority that had until now been a pretty good weapon in our arsenal.
11:07 PM
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