Useful Fools

The arguments against coercive interrogation are so absurd that some of their famous promoters are either treasonably dishonest or dumb as rocks. I keep running into:

“…the danger that our enemies will not treat our troops well.”

John McCain should know better, but Mr. Arizona Narcissist (who graduated near the bottom of his Anapolis class) has never been too bright. The only opponent of consequence we have fought who sort-of paid attention to the Geneva Conventions was Nazi Germany - and they didn’t do a good job of it. The argument is amazingly specious, and it shows Colin Powell is a dishonest SOB, John McCain is an idiot, the MSM are on the other side (well, we knew that anyway)…

“…it will bring us down to their moral level.”

So a little waterboarding or other ccercive techniques (which we use in training on our own troops, myself included) brings us down to the moral level of 7th century savages who behead reporters, intentionally kill thousands of civilians, and in general behave as the spawn of the devil?

“…it doesn’t work.”

Anyone who has been to SERE school in the last 40 years knows better. Anyone who has paid attention to the patterns of our successes against Al Qaeda knows better.

“…we will lose support in the world.”

Support? What support? If our friends only support us when we hobble ourselves at great cost in American lives, then I suggest they deal with Islamofascism and Jihadism all on their own. Screw ‘em.

“…it starts us down a slippery slope.”

Every moral choice involves drawing a line on a slippery slope - only the moral coward insists on staying comfortably back from the edge.

“…sadists torture people. Dictators torture people. We will be just like them.”

Errr… oh really? That passes for logical thought in elite eastern schools these days? (not to mention that we aren’t talking about torture).

“…it constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.”

You say, what? We don’t interrogate as punishment. Come back when you learn what the issues are.

“…it ignores international law.”

Well, a European judge held that Common Article Three requires each prisoner have a private toilet (among other things). Is THAT a law we want to be party to? Europe may be suicidal, but only half of America is. We certainly don’t want our American interrogators under threat of having such logic turned on them (as McCain and Powell find so important).