ARE WE GOING TOO SOFT IN IRAQ? Some people think so. It seems that way to me, too, though I'm reluctant to make a judgment at this distance. But in my lifetime, at least, the United States has generally erred by not being violent enough, rather than by being too brutal.My emphasis. That's the Instapundit talking this morning. I don't know where he was when he wrote it, but there's no doubt it came from the Department of Bad Timing. His statement deserves careful consideration given it's implications. This vector of more violence, more intervention, more imposed force is a direction I don't want my country going. The torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib is beyond disgraceful and is symptomatic of the very thing Mr. Reynolds wants more of. He probably doesn't want torture to occur, but given the reality on the ground, it's going to happen.
My distance from the pro-war side continues, albeit at a faster pace than before.
UPDATE(10:35am)
On the lighter side, my father forwarded an e-mail to me:
Time to re-evaluate U.S. involvement:Every day there are news reports about more deaths. Every night on TV there are photos of death and destruction. Why are we still there?
We occupied this land, which we had to take by force, but it causes us nothing but trouble. Why are we still there?
Many of our children go there and never come back. Why are we still there?
Their government is unstable, and they have loopy leadership. Why are we still there?
Many of their people are uncivilized. Why are we still there?
The place is subject to natural disasters, to which we are supposed to bail them out. Why are we still there?
There are more than 1000 religious sects, which we do not understand. Why are we still there?
Their folkways, foods and fads are unfathomable to ordinary Americans. Why are we still there?
We can't even secure the borders. Why are we still there?
They are billions of dollars in debt and it will cost billions more to rebuild, which we can't afford. Why are we still there?
It is becoming VERY clear...
WE MUST PULL OUT OF CALIFORNIA !!!!!!!!!
UPDATE(7/23/2004 4:40pm)
He's wrong and he's also not very libertarian. Nor does he think clearly regarding Hillary Clinton or private space tourism.
UPDATE 1/20/2005 12:25pm
Glenn Reynolds is NOT a Libertarian
UPDATED 9/26/2005 2:44pm
He hasn't been paying attention to An Intellectually and Morally Serious Antiwar Movement.
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It is disgusting. Being a soldier means not only representing the forces but also your whole nation and it's believes. That's what they teach us here. I'm angry and ashamed on what they did, as a human being, as a soldier, as a NCO and part of the "civilized world" which they claim to represent.
We charge such things immediately and without hesitation. A few month ago the commander of our special forces wrote a private letter using official paper to emphasize his sympathy with a conservative member of parliament who had held an antisemitic speech. Our Defense Secretary kicked him out without hesitation and replaced him by another one.
Maybe we are more sensible because of our history...
I think the problem is simple, it lies in the demonizing of the enemy and as a consequense stripping off all their rights as human beings. Who cares if you kill a bug or rip off it's legs just for the fun of it?
When you can detain someone without charges, without judges nor prosecutors something's wrong, when you can keep them forever and not give ny information to their families you have degraded em to cattles. That's what the nazis did.
The leadership, political and military, made some big mistakes there.
Those who (ab)use this to hit on the army are "psycho idiot jerks". I only made good experiences with US soldiers I met by now, especially your MPs rocked.
Those who try to diminish what happened by pointing at Sadams regime and terroist acts, those who even back it up by claiming those prisoners didn't deserve better are not worthy of calling themselves civilized, they should hook up with Bin Laden and torture each other. *spits* It gives me the chills listening to such hardliners without moral, brings up pictures of Nazi Germany and 3rd world country torture chambers.
I'll never understand rapists, people who torture, those who tolerate or command such actions. I could never look away. That's why I joined the forces. To knock down such people and help establishing justice and values.
I'm a realist with ideals.