The difference, Howard, is that YOU are supposed to be the good guys.
Let me be quite clear. Americans are not supposed to be doing the things the terrorists do. Americans are supposed to be better than that.
Let me also be clear: you have failed to live up to that rather modest ideal. These are not isolated incidents, but a pattern of events that has been continuously coming out into the open for years now. The supporters of this war, including the President, claimed it was an "isolated incident" when the first pictures and stories came out. This was a lie. It was known even at the time that American torture of prisoners was a widespread practice. Since then, many, many incidents of it have come out. This has gotten very little play in mainstream American media, contrary to what you say.
Moreover, it is an indisputable fact, down on paper, that this administration (and Rumsfeld in particular) have spoken disparagingly about the Geneva Conventions and international law. It is also an indisputable fact that America has been deliberately trying to arrange and rename the classifications of prisoners so they can ignore the Geneva Conventions when they deal with prisoners (including, infamously, at Guantanamo Bay).
Do not EVER try to justify torture. Do not give me any BS about how in "isolated circumstances" it might be helpful. For two reasons.
1) The US has tortured people who were innocent of any wrongdoing. Multiple people released from Guantanamo have accused the US of torturing them while they were there. This is the inevitable consequence of any use of torture.
2) Torture never provides reliable information, and inevitably gets used on innocent victims. This is an accepted fact, but even if it wasn't, you should not be using torture because it is GODDAMN WRONG.
For the love of Christ, what the hell are you fighting for? So you can become what you're fighting? You think the terrorists are bad? STOP COPYING THEM. Once the United States has engaged in the slaughter of civilians (and they have) and the sanctioned torture of innocent people (and they have), what the hell is your moral high ground? What do you have left to cling to to say "We're better than the people we're fighting. This is a just war"?
You started this with the unlawful unilateral invasion of a country that posed no threat to you whatsoever, and that's goddamn shaky moral ground enough without you torturing civilians, thank you very much.
It's very true that atrocities against civilians (which are daily committed by both sides of the conflict) are downplayed in the media. So is the true state of the American military; everybody knows how many died, but the horrific number who were maimed for life is rarely even brought up, despite it being much larger.
None of this in any way justifies ignoring torture. None of it. Because nothing can justify it, just like nothing can justify the use of torture. Ever. Under any circumstances.
Some things are just wrong. Some things must be opposed, in all forms, no matter who is doing them, no matter what the reasons.
If you do not, you have forfeited all claim to being anything other than what your opponents claim you as: the Evil Empire. And I mean that literally and deadly seriously. A country that invades other countries, that slaughters civilians, that ignores international law, that sanctifies torture of prisoners from the highest levels of government, that is a country that is evil and must be opposed.
Stop being that country that must be opposed.
Let me be quite clear. Americans are not supposed to be doing the things the terrorists do. Americans are supposed to be better than that.
Let me also be clear: you have failed to live up to that rather modest ideal. These are not isolated incidents, but a pattern of events that has been continuously coming out into the open for years now. The supporters of this war, including the President, claimed it was an "isolated incident" when the first pictures and stories came out. This was a lie. It was known even at the time that American torture of prisoners was a widespread practice. Since then, many, many incidents of it have come out. This has gotten very little play in mainstream American media, contrary to what you say.
Moreover, it is an indisputable fact, down on paper, that this administration (and Rumsfeld in particular) have spoken disparagingly about the Geneva Conventions and international law. It is also an indisputable fact that America has been deliberately trying to arrange and rename the classifications of prisoners so they can ignore the Geneva Conventions when they deal with prisoners (including, infamously, at Guantanamo Bay).
Do not EVER try to justify torture. Do not give me any BS about how in "isolated circumstances" it might be helpful. For two reasons.
1) The US has tortured people who were innocent of any wrongdoing. Multiple people released from Guantanamo have accused the US of torturing them while they were there. This is the inevitable consequence of any use of torture.
2) Torture never provides reliable information, and inevitably gets used on innocent victims. This is an accepted fact, but even if it wasn't, you should not be using torture because it is GODDAMN WRONG.
For the love of Christ, what the hell are you fighting for? So you can become what you're fighting? You think the terrorists are bad? STOP COPYING THEM. Once the United States has engaged in the slaughter of civilians (and they have) and the sanctioned torture of innocent people (and they have), what the hell is your moral high ground? What do you have left to cling to to say "We're better than the people we're fighting. This is a just war"?
You started this with the unlawful unilateral invasion of a country that posed no threat to you whatsoever, and that's goddamn shaky moral ground enough without you torturing civilians, thank you very much.
It's very true that atrocities against civilians (which are daily committed by both sides of the conflict) are downplayed in the media. So is the true state of the American military; everybody knows how many died, but the horrific number who were maimed for life is rarely even brought up, despite it being much larger.
None of this in any way justifies ignoring torture. None of it. Because nothing can justify it, just like nothing can justify the use of torture. Ever. Under any circumstances.
Some things are just wrong. Some things must be opposed, in all forms, no matter who is doing them, no matter what the reasons.
If you do not, you have forfeited all claim to being anything other than what your opponents claim you as: the Evil Empire. And I mean that literally and deadly seriously. A country that invades other countries, that slaughters civilians, that ignores international law, that sanctifies torture of prisoners from the highest levels of government, that is a country that is evil and must be opposed.
Stop being that country that must be opposed.