Marble Composition

"Torture Betrays Us..."

This from two former officers:

Charles C. Krulak was commandant of the Marine Corps from 1995 to 1999. Joseph P. Hoar was commander in chief of U.S. Central Command from 1991 to 1994.

They write in the Washington Post:

...We have served in combat; we understand the reality of fear and the havoc it can wreak if left unchecked or fostered. Fear breeds panic, and it can lead people and nations to act in ways inconsistent with their character.

And, this is quite a slam on our current president:

The American people are understandably fearful about another attack like the one we sustained on Sept. 11, 2001. But it is the duty of the commander in chief to lead the country away from the grip of fear, not into its grasp. Regrettably, at Tuesday night's presidential debate in South Carolina, several Republican candidates revealed a stunning failure to understand this most basic obligation. Indeed, among the candidates, only John McCain demonstrated that he understands the close connection between our security and our values as a nation.

Steve Benan comments:

Josh Marshall adds, “The legacy of this imagination is frightening to behold, its philosophy of force and violence, its lawlessness.”

There are 613 days left in Bush’s presidency. That several of his would-be GOP successors share his twisted values is depressing. That Republican audiences applaud these values is beyond painful.

Kevin Drum adds:

I don't write much about torture these days because the whole subject just makes me ill. I know that's a lousy excuse. I'm sorry. But if I'd tuned in to Tuesday's Republican debate and heard the crowd hooting and hollering as the candidates played "can you top this" over who was most willing to take up the mantle of Hitler, Stalin, and Pol Pot, I probably would have lost it. It's not just that it's depraved, it's demagogic, and it's depressing, but also that it's dimwitted. Macho talk about torture may be a great applause line on the right-wing rubber chicken circuit, but it does nothing to make us safer.

It's a really important piece. Go check it out.

posted by FuzzFinger @ 5/18/2007 12:39:00 PM