Comments on: Lindsey Graham Gets Detainee Rights…Right http://donklephant.com/2005/12/06/lindsey-graham-gets-it-on-detainee-rights/ Big Teeth. Huge Ass. Surprisingly Reasonable. Fri, 09 Jan 2009 01:17:45 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Joshua http://donklephant.com/2005/12/06/lindsey-graham-gets-it-on-detainee-rights/comment-page-1/#comment-4417 Joshua Wed, 07 Dec 2005 16:34:35 +0000 http://donklephant.com/2005/12/06/lindsey-graham-gets-it-on-detainee-rights/#comment-4417 Note: By "elsewhere on Donklephant" in my previous post, in both cases I refer specifically to the "Hanson on Torture" comments. Note: By “elsewhere on Donklephant” in my previous post, in both cases I refer specifically to the “Hanson on Torture” comments.

]]> By: Joshua http://donklephant.com/2005/12/06/lindsey-graham-gets-it-on-detainee-rights/comment-page-1/#comment-4416 Joshua Wed, 07 Dec 2005 16:31:16 +0000 http://donklephant.com/2005/12/06/lindsey-graham-gets-it-on-detainee-rights/#comment-4416 As I've mentioned elsewhere on Donklephant, my problem with the McCain amendment is that the definition of what is and is not acceptable practice really needs to be part of the amendment itself. Passing the buck to the military to write its own internal rules not only leaves the military open to second-guessing, but also strikes me as a cowardly attempt to avoid a public debate upon what exactly constitutes torture. <blockquote>Becoming like our enemy will only further turn the hearts and minds of the world against us.</blockquote> Did our nuking of two Japanese cities to end WWII - which was not just like, but well beyond what our enemy had ever done to us - turn the hearts and minds of the rest of the world against us? Also as I've mentioned at greater length elsewhere on Donklephant, I don't buy the "moral high ground" meme when it comes to warfare. If torture were proven to be an essential and irreplaceable tactic in this war I might support it in spite of my moral objections, just as I have no problem with the U.S. killing civilians by the hundreds of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to avoid an even bloodier ground invasion of Japan. <b>But I'm nowhere near convinced that torture is really that critical to American victory.</b> As I’ve mentioned elsewhere on Donklephant, my problem with the McCain amendment is that the definition of what is and is not acceptable practice really needs to be part of the amendment itself. Passing the buck to the military to write its own internal rules not only leaves the military open to second-guessing, but also strikes me as a cowardly attempt to avoid a public debate upon what exactly constitutes torture.

Becoming like our enemy will only further turn the hearts and minds of the world against us.

Did our nuking of two Japanese cities to end WWII - which was not just like, but well beyond what our enemy had ever done to us - turn the hearts and minds of the rest of the world against us? Also as I’ve mentioned at greater length elsewhere on Donklephant, I don’t buy the “moral high ground” meme when it comes to warfare. If torture were proven to be an essential and irreplaceable tactic in this war I might support it in spite of my moral objections, just as I have no problem with the U.S. killing civilians by the hundreds of thousands in Hiroshima and Nagasaki to avoid an even bloodier ground invasion of Japan. But I’m nowhere near convinced that torture is really that critical to American victory.

]]> By: michael reynolds http://donklephant.com/2005/12/06/lindsey-graham-gets-it-on-detainee-rights/comment-page-1/#comment-4404 michael reynolds Wed, 07 Dec 2005 02:34:54 +0000 http://donklephant.com/2005/12/06/lindsey-graham-gets-it-on-detainee-rights/#comment-4404 I've said it before, I'll say it again: Lindsay Graham looks like a goober, sounds like a goober and yet, is not a goober. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: Lindsay Graham looks like a goober, sounds like a goober and yet, is not a goober.

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