Letters to the Editor
randron
Published Letters: 100
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Unbelievable!
[Read the article: Al-Qaida does it, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I remember watching the Republican debate and being aghast at what became the "applause lines" for the evening. What Romney, Guiliani and Tancredo espoused were the tactics of the Gestapo; the very same grievious actions that resulted in the execution of numerous Nazi "war criminals" following WWII.
How did America come to inhabit this sordid place? Are we so ignorant of history that we would allow ourselves to sink to the basest, most vile and immoral acts of those who have been and are our enemies?
Whatever happened to Ronald Reagan's "Shining city upon a hill" as metaphor for America? Torture snuffs out that light and makes us the same as any other tin-pot dictatorship. The idea that there is such a thing as "good" torture (if WE do it) and "bad" torture (if Al-Qaida does it) is sophomoric at best and totally insane at worst!
I am not naive enough to think that America has NEVER tortured our enemies in the past. I know too many men who fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam not to know better. The difference is that the America I knew did not CONDONE such actions and often, would actually prosecute any soldier who was known to have participated in such activities. We did NOT glory in torture. It was a source of SHAME!
Jack Bauer is the hero of the day; a fictional character who now sets the standard for "the American way." Republicans who think torture is "cool" are chickenhawks on a testosterone high, trying to "out-piss" their rivals in their race to the bottom. Not to worry ... they've already made it ... and they make me ashamed to think that my beloved America has sunk so low!
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On Torture et al...
[Read the article: Al-Qaida does it, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I've always found it bizarre that those who are subjected to various forms of torture and who are thereby understandably coerced, are referred to as cowards and traitors. Would it not be simpler to announce, upon someone's capture, that anything he or she admits to is as a result of "enhanced interrogation techniques" (torture) and therefore should be discounted as unreliable and untrue.
Also, the captives' country of origin could announce that any information the prisoners might provide would be of no value because any knowledge they might possess would be superceded by new plans drawn up in response to their captivity. This would make taking hostages, except for purposes of ransom, an unnecessary and futile effort.
Why do we insist on captives "biting the bullet" and increasing their own exposure to barbaric and inhumane treatment? Why do we treat those who succumb to such treatment as weak and traitorous? John McCain has said that when one is being tortured, he will say anything his captor wants to hear ... just to get the pain to stop! And even though McCain (honorably) refused early release to stay with his prison-mates, I seem to recall him succumbing to torture by making a few less than flattering statements about the U.S.A. for North Vietnamese propaganda purposes (correct me if I'm mistaken). Truly, the "shame" is in the torture ... not in what one does or says to get the torture to end. Those who believe otherwise should allow themselves to be subjected to the types of "enhanced interrogation techniques" used on our own detainees at Gitmo or forever hold their peace!
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@Iokannan in the Well
[Read the article: Al-Qaida does it, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]"I'm quite frankly hard pressed to think of anything about George W Bush that merits a kind word, including his personal appearance and what we know of his marriage."
-- Iokannan in the Well
Things about George W Bush that merit a kind word (I'm sure readers here can offer other suggestions)...
He hasn't killed anyone (with his bare hands)!
(Of course this doesn't take into account the 154 people executed in Texas while he was governor, the 3500+ American troops killed in Iraq, or the 200,000 to 650,000 Iraqi deaths since 2003)
He hasn't had sex with his mother!
(Ewwwwwwww!!)
He doesn't torture his dog Barney!
(However, as a youth he was known to put firecrackers in frogs, throw them up into the air and watch them explode)
He likes to create cute and cuddly nicknames for his friends!
(...like "Turdblossom" Rove and "Fredo" Gonzales)
He wasn't the dumbest kid in his class!
(a solid "C" student at Yale with 4/5's of his classmates ranked above him)
More?...
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@The Major
[Read the article: Al-Qaida does it, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]I don't know what you've been reading but clearly, you've not read "Al-Qaida does it, too" by Glenn Greenwald. NO ONE is suggesting that Al-Qiada doesn't torture or that they're not very, very, bad people. The point is that, as Americans, we are supposed to be "better;" we claim to be "better," our governing philosophy is founded on "better" precepts and principles. Torture, whatever the grounds or justification, is simply NOT BETTER! Does the fact that we torture make Al-Qaida's torture LESS brutal? Does the fact that we torture make us BETTER than they? Does the fact that we torture make you proud to be an American? Does the fact that we torture make us MORE civilized ... or less? If, by torturing others, we become as despicable and disgusting as our enemies ... we BECOME what they ARE! Is that really what you want, Major? You want to be the moral equivalant of Al-Qaida? If your answer is "yes," may God have mercy on your soul!
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@LWM
[Read the article: Al-Qaida does it, too]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Thanks for the heads-up! I haven't been here long enough to know the ins-and-outs of all who post here. I hope your description of The Major as "a parody troll" means that he really understands that what he's writing is sophomoric, irrational and silly. If he's doing it "for a laugh," I'll just chuckle away at his inanities ("with" him not "at" him). By the way, I really enjoy your posts, along with Karen M, Paul Rosenberg, Robert and others. Keep the faith!!