Interesting, I can take exception with every part of TG's post.
Top Gun wrote:Grendel, did you even read the whole article? The author's saying that, even though some things have been screwed up in Iraq/Guantanamo, the overall result of the push for democracy has had good effects, both in that particular country and its neighbors.
The quotation from the article Grendel selected shows that he did indeed get the point. Or didn't you read Grendel's whole post? I really don't understand why you would accuse him of not reading the whole article.
The main problem I have with the article, though, is that Abu Ghraib was condoned by Bush somehow;
Perhaps not Bush himself, but it is unrealistic to believe the humiliation tactics were't known about at very high levels. Keep in mind that Bush does populate his own administration, so they will tend to make decisions that he is inclined to agree with. Finally, don't forget that it is their job to insulate him from anything too damaging while they are carrying out his will.
I also think that applying the definition of "war crimes" to Guantanamo is rather overexaggerating the situation ther.
By the letter of the law of the Geneva convention, I wouldn't be surprised if "war crimes" is the appropriate term. However, the Geneva convention is becoming outdated. The idea of "civilized warfare" is hard to apply when dealing with our latest enemy.
(Just as a point of reference, I'm no fan of the legal limbo that the "enemy combatants" there are in; I say charge and convict them in criminal court or let them go.)
Spies, high-ranking officers, and political prisoners have always been treated differently from regular soldiers. In this war, it is uncommonly difficult to dermine who is who. At the same time, due to the nature of this war, we are extremely ineffective unless we have good intel. So it's not as black and white as convicting or releasing them.
Also, he suggests that Colin Powell was "forced" to step down; last time I checked, that wasn't the case.
No cabinet official is ever fired; they all resign. This is a matter of politeness. Many of them, however, are forced out, either explicitly by requesting their resignation, or implicitly by forcing them to do things that are morally repulsive to them. The fact is, we'll never know exactly why Powell left, but we can make some pretty good guesses.
