Wednesday, July 14, 2004

I've wanted to blog, really I have, but I've gotten so distracted lately.

Though the administration never comes out and say so, they imply that the torture techniques they employ are done so only to terrorists and in an effort to discover the next 9-11 attack. Newsweek has a report out that most of those tortured in Abu Ghirab weren't even terror suspects. They were common criminals and some were mentally ill. I am just so proud!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5412316/site/Newsweek

See, this is why torture should never be allowed. People in custody are not guilty just because they are in custody, even though most Americans seem to think so. A sober examination of evidence is required to determine guilt. People are scooped up in war zones indiscriminately precisely because when chaos reigns on the ground, you arrest first and sort it out later. That's the safest thing to do and is completely understandable. That's why Guantanimo was full of taxi drivers and other innocents at first. Only took the military 6 weeks to 6 months to sort most of them out. That is precisely why you must follow humane and constitution-based rules when you detain people. Not for the benefit of the detained, but for the benefit of those who detain--so that no one can ever accuse you of tyrannical behavior, so that our experiment in decent, humane, popular government and society is not debased.

Those in power now are not fit to govern.

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