The harder right - heraldblog

The harder right

Andrew Sullivan has been soliciting emails of support for Captain Ian Fishback, the West Point grad who exposed systematic and illegal prisoner abuse in Iraq. Go check them out. And then send your own message of support to Lt. Fishback at > SupportFishback@aol.com.

Here's a sample:
Thank you very much for having the moral courage to come forward. As a West Point grad and patriotic American, I was very reluctant to believe the abuse allegations that came out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Like many, I tended to believe Abu Grahib was a more or less isolated incident--surely, I thought, the powers-that-be wouldn't allow such things to happen on a wider scale. Furthermore, given all the classes we had on military ethics and leadership, I was sure my classmates and co-alums would not permit troops to engage in torture or coercion.
One thing I notice when reading these letters is how much more thoughtful and intelligent sounding the anti-torture voices are compared to the barking loons who think torture is really cool. The pro-torture argument can be summed up as "You don't bring a knife to a gunfight. The terrorists deserve everything they have coming to them, and they're not going to start liking us if we start putting a mint under their pillow every night." This is terribly short-sighted. True, the hard-core jihadists are, for the most part, lost causes, "dead enders" as Rumsfeld famously calls them. But there are millions more Muslims around the world who aren't ready to commit to jihad, but still need to be persuaded that America really has Islam's best interest at heart. We're not going to win over those folks with naked pyramids and glow-stick enemas.

In some ways, the pro-torture crowd is still fighting the last war, which is the surest way to lose the current one. Historically, wars have been slugfest battles of attrition between opposing armies. Not this time. The radical Islamists who are keeping Bush up nights don't need an army, an air force, or even a flag to carry into battle. They just need to make us look worse than them in the eyes of the people who matter the most: other Muslims. Why? Because that's where the recruits come from for another wave of jihad. If potential recruits start believing in American ideals as fervantly as Captain Fishback, the pool of recruits dries up.

It's so typically American to find our heroes among average people doing extraordinary things. In Captain Fishback, the anti-war movement has a chance to find common cause with the war's supporters. And the war's most unrealistic supporters, who prefer the easier wrong over the harder right, can find reason for shame.

2.10.05 01:45

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To date 27 Comment(s) TrackBack-URL

(2.10.05 02:25)
Who's this "pro torture" crowd you talk about? The 2 leaders of the frat pranks are in prison now, so where's the "crowd" and who are they?
Unrealistic supporters of a war that has liberated millions of gassed, tortured and murdered Iraqis? Easier wrong to eliminate the Hussein family from further raping torturing and using WMDs on their own people?
What kind of idiotic statement is that that says the people who support spreading freedom and democracy throughout the world prefer wrong over right? Your thought process is nonexistent.

(2.10.05 02:51)
Republican Vet, you misread the post. I think from this point on, it's best if you restrain from commenting unless you can abide by 20six's terms of service, and avoid abusive and harrassing language. OK?

(2.10.05 03:33)
Aww, did the truth hurt your little feelings again? I didn't misread the post. Like I said, your thought process is nonexistent. I repeated what you said and asked questions about what you said and you can't justify anything you say, so you fail to answer and resort to feeling sorry for yourself. You think questioning your thought process is a violation of terms of service? LOL! What a wimp! Answer the questions, fool, You make unsubstantiated claims and false accusations in your post, just like you always do. Now you have someone with the capacity to call you on it and question where you come up with your illegitimate statements and you have to be a baby about it? Grow up and answer the questions. They're derived directly from what you said in your post and you're confirming my conception of your mindless activity by diverting attention away from the topic and acting like a victim.

(2.10.05 20:03)
Wow, a day later and still no answers to the unsubstantiated claims you make. I think we can see who doesn't belong in the blogging business. Nice touch. Are you offended again because I've called you on your BS and you have nothing to substantiate your nonexistent thought process? Call 20six. Maybe they can put me in prison for making you look like a rambling idiot on your own blog.

(2.10.05 21:57)
Sie sind der meiste politisch unwissende Mensch, dem ich je begegnet bin.

(2.10.05 21:57)
U bent de meeste politiek onwetende mens die ik ooit ontmoet heb.

(2.10.05 21:58)
São ser humano mais politicamente ignorante é eu jamais encontrei-me.

(2.10.05 22:08)
Does that make me cool or smarter to comment in other languages? You have a tough enough time understanding the questions I ask you, as it is, so let's stick to English and not make ourselves look like morons, ok? (That means you.)

(2.10.05 22:15)
Lol, are you playing on quicklatin.com again?

(2.10.05 22:26)
Caesar si viveret, ad remum dareris

(2.10.05 22:28)
Siete il più politicamente la persona che ignara ho incontrato mai nella mia vita.

(2.10.05 22:29)
Vous êtes le plus politiquement la personne ignorante que j'ai jamais rencontrée dans ma vie.

(2.10.05 22:30)
Why does it take me seconds to speak several different languages to you and it takes you 10 minutes to look up phrases you read in books in one language?

(2.10.05 23:02)
Aww, you deleted another comment.....(sniff sniff).
Do you need to look up the answer to my last question, too?

(3.10.05 03:52)
John Yoo, former White House counsel, defended the use of torture and open-ended detentions. He still has influence, if not power. There is a pro-torture crowd.
It probably is true that these methods feed the egos of terrorist leaders. Since they cause American officials to trash the Geneva conventions--something Hitler and Stalin couldn't do--it lets them think they've really shaken us up.

(3.10.05 05:13)
1) Thank you for answering the question the blogger should've answered.
2) Thank you for telling me one person who is "the torture crowd."
3) You have to be smart enough to know defending "torture" to get info from these terrorists is NOT on the same lines as Hitler and Stalin and what torture wouldn't upset a country and its people? We should stop our methods to cater to the terrorists? That's the problem with you liberals. Everything needs to be toned down for the sake of the terrorists and that's what Bush will not allow.You people think we should pull out and come hom, half way finished, just because it "fuels the terrorists" that we're there.
Bogus.

(3.10.05 13:52)
Lt. Fishback's testimony revealed widespread abuse of detainees for the mere amusement of some US soldiers. The point of my apparently obtuse posting is that torture is not confined to Abu Graib, that it's widespread, and systemic.
Donald Rumsfeld has admitted that the Geneva Conventions apply to the US in Iraq. So what's wrong with following them? The whole point of my densely written, inpenetrable prose is that US foreign policy interests are best served when our leaders choose the harder right over the easier wrong.

(3.10.05 23:04)
You just put another apple with the oranges, but whatever you say. It's your blog.

(4.10.05 02:13)
For the record, I wasn't comparing Bush's employees to Hitler or Stalin. It was a comparison between our approach to human rights then and the one we have now.
And I'll put in my two cents when and where I want, thank you.

(4.10.05 10:29)
Who restricted your 2 cents? You just acted like a scorned puppy for no reason. But at leats we know you'll put in your cents when and where you want, thank you.
Or maybe that was aimed at Herald since he deletes comments so much.

(4.10.05 10:31)
Who restricted your 2 cents? You just acted like a scorned puppy for no reason. But at leats we know you'll put in your cents when and where you want, thank you.
Or maybe that was aimed at Herald since he deletes comments so much.

(4.10.05 10:37)
Who restricted your 2 cents? You just acted like a scorned puppy for no reason. But at leats we know you'll put in your cents when and where you want, thank you.
Or maybe that was aimed at Herald since he deletes comments so much.

(4.10.05 10:39)
There's someting for you to delete. This crappy blog service puts up 3 of the same comment that was typed one time. Perfect.

(4.10.05 16:05)
LOL! OOOOOOOOOH!!!!!!
Too bad Blogger and Haloscan do that too, lol.

(4.10.05 16:07)
And by the way, I don't run around and delete comments. That's what you do when people prove you wrong.

(4.10.05 16:26)
And by the way, I don't run around and delete comments. That's what you do when people prove you wrong.

(4.10.05 23:58)
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