Sunday, September 24, 2006

Tortured Logic   [Cliff May]

President Bush has said over and over that he will not authorize or condone torture, that torture is illegal under U.S. law. The McCain Amendment reinforces that prohibition.

So what is top story on the front page of the Washington Post’s Outlook section this morning? “THE TORTURE DEBATE.”

And what a debate the Post presents: two writers both of whom fervently oppose torture. What do they disagree on? Not a thing, as far as I can tell.

Between chopping off limbs (something Saddam Hussein did routinely but which we are now told we were wrong to do interfere with) and subjecting terrorists to sleep deprivation (something every new parent and resident physician experiences) there is a wide gulf. But the MSM apparently can’t see it. It’s all torture and it’s all immoral and of course entirely useless.

Let me add this: If we can't even cause a terrorist with vital, life-saving information temporary discomfort, then surely we can't kill terrorists identified through intelligence (gathered through well-publicized telephonic eavesdropping or acts of kindness or whatever). We can't be busting into terrorist "safe houses" in Karachi and shooting people.

Maybe we can capture them but if we do we can’t send them to secret CIA prisons. And if they won't cooperate willingly we must put them on trial (with strict rules of evidence etc. of course) or let them go — assuming a nice, gentle country will take them and not harm them. We can't hold them until the end of hostilities, right?

FDR didn't fight WW2 this way. This is not how Lincoln fought the civil war either. (Recall he suspended habeas corpus; and Gen. Sherman's approach to warfare would hardly have received the ACLU Seal of Approval.)

I suppose some on the left believe that war is like sports: It's not whether you win or lose, it's how you play the game. But others may believe it does matter whether we win or lose.

Or, if we're determined to be defeated, let's at least surrender not to the Islamic Fascists but to the Chinese. If for no other reason, better food.

09/24 03:22 PMShare