Shorter Eva "Braun" Rodriguez: Because our hearts were pure when we tortured people, we're nothing like the Nazis. They didn't care if their torture was humane and legal. We do, and we have the scientific evidence to prove it!
Wow. Thanks, I might take a crack at that one later, but that's one naive piece. Briefly: The Bush administration tortured people, despite being warned by people working for them that it didn't work and was completely fucking illegal, because it wanted to. Some of the Bushies were true believers because they saw torture "work" on 24. But as with everything else, they had no interest in reality-based advice, they steamrolled their internal and external critics, and acted viciously. How surprising that telling a prisoner you're going to rape his wife and mother or threatening to bury him alive will finally produce the "evidence" of a non-existent Iraq-Al Qaeda link to justify a war you already wanted.
As always, the rule of thumb is simple. You don't want to be charged for war crimes? Don't commit war crimes. You don't want to be compared to Nazis? Don't imitate the fucking Nazis. The Nazis, by the way, wrote memos establishing "legal" torture, too...
It's fascinating to watch people contort themselves morally so they can live with their choices. I can't believe how easy it seems to be--just assume that because you are doing the bad thing, it's really okay.
Wow. Thanks, I might take a crack at that one later, but that's one naive piece. Briefly: The Bush administration tortured people, despite being warned by people working for them that it didn't work and was completely fucking illegal, because it wanted to. Some of the Bushies were true believers because they saw torture "work" on 24. But as with everything else, they had no interest in reality-based advice, they steamrolled their internal and external critics, and acted viciously. How surprising that telling a prisoner you're going to rape his wife and mother or threatening to bury him alive will finally produce the "evidence" of a non-existent Iraq-Al Qaeda link to justify a war you already wanted.
ReplyDeleteAs always, the rule of thumb is simple. You don't want to be charged for war crimes? Don't commit war crimes. You don't want to be compared to Nazis? Don't imitate the fucking Nazis. The Nazis, by the way, wrote memos establishing "legal" torture, too...
It's fascinating to watch people contort themselves morally so they can live with their choices. I can't believe how easy it seems to be--just assume that because you are doing the bad thing, it's really okay.
ReplyDelete