Vice President Dick Cheney made an unusual personal appeal to Republican senators this week to allow CIA exemptions to a proposed ban on the torture of terror suspects in U.S. custody, according to participants in a closed-door session.
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The vice president made his appeal at a time Congress is struggling with the torture issue in light of the Abu Ghraib prison scandal and allegations of mistreatment of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The United States houses about 500 detainees at the naval base there, many of them captured in Afghanistan.
It's another one of those arguements from the administration that falls along the lines of "Oh, we're not actually going to torture anybody. But you really need to agree to let us, because if you don't, the terrorists win." In my opinion, the fact that the leadership of the free world--which is supposed to be a shining example of freedom, justice, truth and the American Way for the victims of oppression around the globe--is asking to engage in such morally reprehensible behavior tells me that the terrorists have already won.
We're better than this. If we can't beat Al Qaeda without abandoning our morals, then we're bankrupt as a society don't deserve to win.
Now Playing: Various artists Meditation: Classical Relaxation vol. 1
Hey, I figure we were bankrupt as a society a long time ago, so it doesn't really matter.
ReplyDeleteThis has nothing to do with your post, but there's a new Cepheid wiki set up to attempt to gather Cepheid and AggieCon history and legend into one accessible place, and I'm trying to get the word out beyond the current Cepheids and most recent Elders, since information earlier than 1995 or so is a bit sparse (and the AggieCon pages consist mostly of what I've been able to glean from the Web). You have to be registered as an editor to edit and add stuff, but currently anyone can register. We'd love it if you stopped by and helped fill in gaps, along with anyone else you know who'd know things.
ReplyDelete(Dunno if you remember me - we've met at past Aggiecons and more recently ConDFWs, where I'm on staff, usually in the presence of Dan Robb and Mike Crocker.)
PJ, call me naive, but I still think the U.S. of A. is a society of limitless pointential that has but been briefly led astray. The current regime seems to subscribe to the "divine right of kings" governing philosophy--I expect the pendulum to swing back the other way shortly.
ReplyDeleteStephanie, sounds good. I'll have to check it out. And of course I remember you--only which one am I remembering? Are you the blonde or the brunette?
:D The brunette, sometimes redhead. Folse. The tall blonde one is Leary, nee Smith.
ReplyDelete