one-track on this subject lately) I'm not comfortable with the comparison or
the possible implication that one is partial justification for the other.
(I'm not sure that Mike personally meant that implication, but there are
definitely those that do.)
Terrorists have committed these acts, for many years, in "retaliation" for
acts committed or imagined on nearly any scale. It's also not something
limited to the Middle East: Western Africa, Southeast Asia and so forth have
all seen this kind of disregard (and not always only to Americans).
This in no way can or should affect our moral actions or temper our outrage
at those of our own people that would begin the descent to that kind of
behavior. The prison situation is a precursor for that kind of behavior:
the more a group can dehumanize another, the less basic respect (in life or
death) that needs to be offered.
This is not a planned devolution or the results of a decision; it's a result
of many small steps, many small events and an imbalance of power that can
very quickly lead to this behavior.
We should never hold up the actions of terrorists as reasons to compromise
our own ideals and strictures. Once we do we allow them to mold us. A
terrorist outrage shouldn't temper our disgust at the prison abuses, it
should hone it. We are now reminded of what could happen if we let such
abuse slide and permit the sentiments and situations which caused it in the
first place to spread.
Jim Davis
_____
From: Matthew Small [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Amen, Mike.
- Matt Small
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Dinowitz
So Gel,
You were shocked at the abuse Iraqi prisoners were put through. Can I hear
your
shock at terrorists parading around heads and other body parts in
celebration?
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