Another Bad Argument
There's another bad argument related to the war in Iraq that one hears so often I'm not going to bother to link to an example. It's essentially this: what the United States is doing (acting unilaterally, treating prisoners badly, clocking foreign phone calls, not signing the Kyoto Protocol or a hundred other things some don't like, whether true or not) is hurting our reputation around the world, therefore we should stop doing it.
Whenever I hear someone make this claim (every day) I'm always disappointed no one asks the obvious follow-up--are these others foolish to think what they're thinking about us?
I'm not saying we should ignore what others believe--it's always a consideration, but rarely a paramount one when it comes to important policy. In other words, if it's wrong, we should stop it in any case; if it's right, then we merely have a p.r. problem.
In other other words, if you don't like what we're doing, just say it, don't hide behind foreign opinions.
posted by LAGuy @ 12:37 AM
1 Comments:
McCain, who makes this argument alot seems to be saying that yes it is wrong to treat anyone outside of the Geneva Conventions and additionally it is bad p.r. I would like to see a more specific discussion of what is and is not inbounds under Geneva. Is is clear that playing rap music is not acceptable? Or what kinds of persuasion is Bsh asking for?
I think there are two points that Bush is (not) making (well) that resonate with me. One when you have 14000 detainees it is next to impossible to give them all jury trials. Two normally it is important that all the evidence be shared with the accused. But since we are still actively in a war, the other side is intent upon using this information to undermine future terror prevention. (this was the case with the first WTC bombing trial as I understand it.) Clearly we need to treat these suspected terrorists within some bounds. How we can accomplish that under the current conditions is the challenge. Unfortunately I don't think everyone is interested in looking at these questions in a non political way.
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