Torture and the nation
TCS Daily
by Raphael C. Rosen
12/04/07
The US government naturally wants to do everything in its power to save its citizens’ lives. Whether, day-to-day, torture helps achieve this goal is beyond my expertise. What is certain, however, is that the willingness to employ any method transforms the nature of America’s struggle against Islamist terrorism from a solemn commitment into an obsession. And victory will not come from obsessively thwarting attacks (excellent though that is in the short-term) but from the successful discrediting of a poisonous, fascistic ideology that al-Qaeda and others seek to inject into the minds of Muslim youth across the globe. The relevant question is whether torture, despite its noxious nature, helps the long-term campaign against this ideology. It does not. A nation like America, whose lifeblood is its citizens’ enjoyment of broad Lockean ideals, dilutes its character when it commits inhuman acts for the sake of humanitarian ends. And America’s character, backed up by its armed forces, is the fountain of its strength...
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=120407D
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
by Raphael C. Rosen
12/04/07
The US government naturally wants to do everything in its power to save its citizens’ lives. Whether, day-to-day, torture helps achieve this goal is beyond my expertise. What is certain, however, is that the willingness to employ any method transforms the nature of America’s struggle against Islamist terrorism from a solemn commitment into an obsession. And victory will not come from obsessively thwarting attacks (excellent though that is in the short-term) but from the successful discrediting of a poisonous, fascistic ideology that al-Qaeda and others seek to inject into the minds of Muslim youth across the globe. The relevant question is whether torture, despite its noxious nature, helps the long-term campaign against this ideology. It does not. A nation like America, whose lifeblood is its citizens’ enjoyment of broad Lockean ideals, dilutes its character when it commits inhuman acts for the sake of humanitarian ends. And America’s character, backed up by its armed forces, is the fountain of its strength...
http://www.tcsdaily.com/article.aspx?id=120407D
Informant: Thomas L. Knapp
http://freepage.twoday.net/search?q=torture
rudkla - 5. Dez, 16:49
