Cruelty
Putting torture into historical context. From my point of view, as far as I understand, the problem with Abu Ghraib was that it wasn't torture with a purpose, it was some guards getting their jollies playing with prisoners. As soon as Islamic terrorists start complying with the Geneva Conventions, so will we. Hat tip for second link: LGF Update: That doesn't sound like I want it to. The Geneva Conventions specifies how a signatory country promises to act in relation to enemy soldiers who are also operating under the Geneva Convention. Things like using hospitals and churches as defensive structures, not wearing a uniform and hiding in the civilian population, playing dead so you can get a American soldier closer so you can set off a grenade; the people we are fighting are not fighting under the Convention. Of course, they can't - they would be squashed like a bug if they tried to use conventional military tactics, which is what the Conventions are set up for. So, we'll try to do our best to treat everything and everyone humanely, at the risk of out servicemen's [and women's] lives, and still get bitched at by every NGO under the sun.
- posted by owlish @ 12/07/2004 10:07:00 AM