An American Captain Writes an Open Letter to John McCain

[ROB]

Most of the prisoners the US is dealing with are illegal combatants and legally could be executed on capture.

Really?

[kilroy]

legally, i'm inclined to believe that insurgency members are in clear violation of the geneva convention on many counts (their own treatment of POW's, who they target, basing themselves in civilian areas, no uniforms, etc), and aren't even party to it. terrorists wouldnt be party to the geneva convention either. but it's unclear whether many captives are part of either group, which is why i favor the more kid gloves approach. i mean, torture isnt exactly a good way to win 'hearts and minds', regardless of who it's applied to.

regardless, i think a line in the sand needs to be drawn on what is acceptable and what isn't. where that line would be is up for debate, but there needs to be a clear standard laid out for the guys in the field. i dont want to see any more enlisted troops getting scapegoated because their officers 'accepted the harsh reality of war' and the politicians didn't. so say what's okay and what's not so guys on the ground now where they can stand.

[Tarkan]

Most of the prisoners the US is dealing with are illegal combatants and legally could be executed on capture.

Really?

Or shortly thereafter.

[Dim]

Most of the prisoners the US is dealing with are illegal combatants and legally could be executed on capture.

I'm pretty sure you're . . . wrong.

[Dim]

Most of the prisoners the US is dealing with are illegal combatants and legally could be executed on capture.

I'm pretty sure you're . . . wrong.

Crap. ROB beat me to it. All yours buddy.

[jamesy]

.

Bravo and thank you to the gentleman who wrote the letter to McCain. It simply cannot be said any better than that.

What a fuckin liar. He is probably taking bribes from some wacky Saudis or Arafat's dog, or maybe he is just plain nuts. This stuff never happened. Get some help asshole, America is a democracy, we don't do shit like that (but, if we did, it was just a couple of bad apples, and we're talking about terrorists here).

Not sure where you might get this from, but we saw almost all of this , or very similar activity, in color, coming out of Abu Gharib prison thanks to Ms England & Associates just recently.

But we supposed to be fighting terrorism because we abhor the way they treat people; not to get back at them — using the same hellish, sub-human methods. And we're doing it to make us safer? All it is doing is stirring up more and more hatred toward the US. Read: bad foreign policy. It remains to be true that the best way to stay safe in many respects is to simply be respected. Naive? Not always. We criticize isolationist countries like Norway (to protect themselves), and call them selfish, while we treat people like animals to protect ourselves, and we're "champions of democracy."

To me the reasons for our free-wheeling suspension of all adherence to accepted standards of human treatment in war is clear: We want revenge more than justice. Justice is about punishment while being careful to not descend to the level of the guilty. Revenge is about reckless pay-back. We are too lazy to do the hard work of true democracy and be a worldwide standard bearer for human rights: we just want to kill 'em all and let God sort it out. Everyone wants revenge instead of justice: it's faster and easier. The evangelical "Christian" groups want revenge. Republicans want revenge. It's all about getting back at them.

That's why I fell on the ground laughing when I saw Bush slapping Hu Xintao on the wrist for "human rights violations". Hilarious, while we have folks IN THE VERY HIGHEST OFFICES OF GOVERNMENT casually suspending human rights standards in Afghanistan. When it's convenient, we love human rights. When it's not, we just dismiss them.

That's not how it works, friends.

And we wonder why the Chinese scoff when we bring up their lack of free press, and closed markets. It's not that the Chinese don't have a LOT to answer for, please understand. It's just that the world won't take it from us when we are so cavalier about our own behavior.

Here's a particularly interesting bit of hypocritical banter from the one who is willing to adhere only "in spirit" to human rights standards:

"Across the world hearts and minds are opening to the message of human freedom," Bush said. "We must encourage their aspirations ... and the United Nations has a vital role to play."
--George Bush, recent UN speech

[audience looks a bit confused]

http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005 ... OE=NEWISVA

In anycase, the issue revolves around the perceived US right by many americans to treat our enemies as less than human. I would argue that if we do not take the high road, as the gentleman who penned the incredibly cogent letter expressed, we are in danger of losing EXACTLY what makes our nation great: our deep and sacred respect for human dignity — even when those humans lash out at us. NO: not that we don't defend against it; only that we defend while not trashing our personal integrity, conscience, and dignity.

When it all comes down, all you really got is your dignity. It's what separates the men from the boys in this world.

J/

[coldharvest]

That's not how it works, friends.

My years of watching the world go by tell me that that is indeed how it works.
Big kids push little kids and lie about it when asked.

[redfax]

the lie's supposed to be credible. Also try not to have pictures circulated proving the opposite.