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Originally posted by sebastian_dangerfield
I don't think anyone ever says "You're as bad as us." Usually its "You're bad and we're not."
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This is true, but they're going to say that regardless. And without basis. It's when they look at us and think that torture is okay that I get irritated.
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Abu Ghraib and the Swift Boaters are two of THE WORST stories this year. Non-events. Nonsense. Rubbish. Crap. Hand-wringing over nothing (what? you think military jails through history have EVER been torture free?).
You have to be pretty fucking naive to think Abu Ghraib is the first or last time that shit will happen, or that we don't do a whole lot worse... Just what do you think we're doing with the high level captured Queda? You think we're not thumb-screwing and elctroding the piss out of those guys? Shit, we're probably force feeding them drugs we wouldn't test on rats. If you think we can cure Abu Ghraib, you're hopelessly idealistic and debating with you is pointless. At best, we can only hope to minimize such behavior. It is war, you know.
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Abu Ghraib is NOT a non-event. Or at least it shouldn't be. Torture does NOT just happen. It is NOT to just be expected.
I'm not so idealistic as to think that abuses will not occur. Hell, we can't keep Americans safe in our own jails, let alone Iraqis. But this came from the top down. This administration has gone out of its way to find a way to torture, to bend the rules, to break the rules.
Like many attorneys, I'm fairly familiar with the interogation techniques used by American police departments that meet Constitutional muster. They are very effective. Very, very effective. Why are we screwing around with cattle prods and dogs?
Someone has to say no. Someone has to say that anal rape of a prisoner by a guard is not okay. If that makes me hopelessly idealistic, that's just sad.
