April 04, 2003
Torture Justifying War
The Village Voice: Nation: Nat Hentoff: Why I Didn't March This Time by Nat HentoffHe says that the protesters shouldn't attempt to speak for the Iraqi people. Well, neither should he. This is so simplistic. All the people that think about the torture seem to be hardcoded to think that the anti-war folks are incapable of holding their anti-war views and the torture stuff in their minds at the same time. They make the flaw that being anti-torture means being pro-war. What they aren't getting is that it seems there are a lot of anti-Saddam Iraqis that would actually choose risking Saddam's rule over an occupation by the U.S.
Excellent point. Not to mention, too, that the United States has a horrible track record when it comes to "establishing democracy." There needs to be another way. Other, more credible, countries need to step in to keep the peace, with the financial backing of the US if need be. If we're REALLY interested in being a humanitarian nation, which I doubt very highly is foremost in the "hearts and minds" of our leaders.
Posted by: drublood at April 5, 2003 07:19 AM