It came out yesterday that two suspected Al Qaeda operatives held in US custody died from “blunt force injuries” during interrogations. Even if these wounds were perpetrated before their capture (which is a big if), it’s utterly dismaying to read where the line is being drawn by our government between “stress and duress” and out-and-out torture. Equally stomach-turning is that we apparently subcontract out the tough nuts to crack to those nations even less perturbed by the ethics of torture than we are. What have we become?
Category: Dubya Diplomacy
A Lack of Liberal Imagination.
Paul Berman of TNR writes on what Dubya could learn from Lincoln, explicitly refuting the Kagan “Power and Weakness” piece linked the other day. (For their part, National Review is offering up Madison instead.)
When (Old New and New Old) Worlds Collide.
I am very late to the table with this link, but oh well. A friend of mine in the department passed along this recent controversial essay, Robert Kagan’s “Power and Weakness”, on the philosophical underpinnings of foreign policy differences between Europe and the US today. I don’t agree with everything he has to say (the Morrison and Worley responses here point out some key flaws, for example – is all of transatlantic difference really reducible to a question of disparate power?), but it is food for thought nonetheless.
Get Your War On.
We’re clearly going to war, we’re giving all the old folks prescription drugs, we’re eliminating AIDS in Africa, and American taxpayers won’t have to pay a red cent. Anybody notice a problem? Dubya’s State of the Union promised a lot, including dividend goodies for the rich and flaming death to Saddam, but it didn’t say much about the actual State of the Union. At any rate, I was impressed with the AIDS initiative (although I’d be more impressed if he wasn’t getting advice from cranks like these), but otherwise didn’t think much of Dubya’s speech. I also doubt he changed anyone’s mind about the Iraq situation, but perhaps Secretary Powell’s speech next week will prove more fruitful. (Thacker link via Julian’s Jabberings.)
Unspeakable Truths.
Slate‘s Fred Kaplan makes a case for what’s not being said about Iraq and N. Korea. Interesting stuff…I hadn’t thought about the Saudi Arabia angle, but it makes sense.
The Fifty-First State?
Writer James Fallows considers the long-term consequences of an Iraq invasion.
This Time It’s Personal.
Today I settle all family business, so don’t tell me you’re innocent, Carlo. Bush tells the UN we’ll go it alone against Iraq if need be. I mean, something has to happen before the first Tuesday in November, or else there’s not much point, is there?
Carter Beats the Dubya.
Former President Jimmy Carter decries Dubya’s Middle East policy, as well as the numerous human rights violations currently being overlooked and/or perpetrated in the name of anti-terrorism.
Freak Show.
Jake Tapper interviews Dick Armey as he (thankfully) nears retirement. “I learned real early on that if you’re having a discussion about foreign policy, just say something disparaging about the French, and everybody will think you know what you’re talking about.” Strangely enough, he also confuses Iraq with Vietnam.
Tactical Retreat.
A “close aide” of Colin Powell suggests the general is on his way out. If so, I shudder to think which right-wing apparatchik Dubya will replace him with. And you gotta think that this story leaking out is going to even further reduce the General’s influence in the Bush White House.