Monday, December 15, 2014

Torture and War

Last week we had to watch Democrats, having been kicked in the pants and out of control of the U.S. Senate, put their vindictive selves on display again by making “news” with a last parting shot at George W. Bush (and the United States): a “torture” report that had less to do with torture and more to do with politics.
Exactly what is torture? I always thought torture was something that left irreparable physical or psychological damage. Pulling fingernails. Ripping tendons. Breaking bones. The kinds of things that were done to John McCain in Vietnam.
How many people would volunteer to be tortured? Yet how many have volunteered to be waterboarded, just to prove how BAD it is? Some have even volunteered twice. Waterboarding is uncomfortable, coercive, and effective – but it isn’t torture.
Let’s get real. The people we’re fighting RAPE women, BEHEAD people, BURY children ALIVE. I’m supposed to be outraged that we’re making some of them listen to loud music? Reading them Harry Potter? Or make them stay awake past their bedtime? REALLY?
This is an extension of the misguided notion that if we just show the terrorists that we’re nice, then they’ll be nice, too - sort of a COOKIES AND NAPTIME with terrorists. Well, we’ve done our mea culpa, ISIS – your turn (hear that sound? Didn’t know they had crickets in the Middle East, did you?)
Might doesn’t make right – but you want might so you when you’re right you can defend it. Right doesn’t make might. Being right doesn’t make the bad guys stop trying to kill you.
For those who believe we should treat our enemies in the WAR ON TERROR by the GENEVA CONVENTION: do you realize that that would dictate that we line them up and shoot them for violating that same convention? We are dealing with people who indiscriminately (and often intentionally) kill or put innocents in harm’s way. There are other parts of the Geneva Convention that they also violate, such as being in uniform.
WAR IS HELL, but sometimes you have to fight or die. When did having superiority in technological weapons become a crime? Why do we handicap ourselves and increase the risk to our own people? We’re at war whether we like it or not; don’t engage in the arrogance of underestimating our opponents. There is NO RATIONAL REASON to even up the odds. Are we afraid that we might make our enemies feel bad? Hurt their precious self-esteem? These are people who are trying to kill us – best to treat them that way.
Just saying…
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William Mangieri’s writing (including his latest ePublication “New Antiques”) can be found in many places, such as:

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