tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post2108701556011592848..comments2024-03-29T03:40:00.298-04:00Comments on Progressive Eruptions: IS MORAL RELATIVISM A NECESSARY CONSEQUENCE OF POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY?Shaw Kenawehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-16007022228582629712009-05-25T15:04:31.422-04:002009-05-25T15:04:31.422-04:00Obama should stop making excuses and release the p...Obama should stop making excuses and release the photos ASAP. The Muslim world already knows what happened. It's Americans who need to be forced out of their slumbers.libhomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05537213558568338561noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-71215680944464531882009-05-23T12:22:00.321-04:002009-05-23T12:22:00.321-04:00The debate on torture and Guantánamo Bay poses an ...The debate on torture and Guantánamo Bay poses an important question for the United States and that is, that it is one thing to have a constitution or laws, and entirely another matter when it comes to carrying them out in trying times when abandoning those laws and principles would seem most expedient. For totalitarian governments the choice is easy, but for democratic ones it is a moment of truth. <br /><br />There was a reason German soldiers preferred to be captured by American forces during World War II, and this was because they knew how they would be treated in United States custody as opposed to being captured by the Russians. If we were to agree with Dick Cheney’s argument, that choice easily made by the Germans years ago would be a difficult one to make today. <br /><br />The true character of a nation or person is not best measured on a pleasant day, but rather it is made manifest on days when all precepts are tested to the core.<br /><br />Nonso UmunnaNonso Umunnanoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-88710201972633991602009-05-22T23:40:04.522-04:002009-05-22T23:40:04.522-04:00When Obama mans up and signs off on supporting a S...When Obama mans up and signs off on supporting a Special Prosecutor to investigate and prosecute the lawless depravity of Cheney Inc., the former vice president had better be afraid -- very afraid, because he may very likely find his fat ass in a Federal prison.Christopherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15788931352232874850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-22572228540963482802009-05-22T21:58:51.466-04:002009-05-22T21:58:51.466-04:00U.S. Officials Admitted that Boys Were Sodomized I...U.S. Officials Admitted that Boys Were Sodomized In Iraq Prison<br /><br /><br />Many people have heard Pulitzer prize winning reporter Seymour Hersh's claim that boys were sodomized at Abu Ghraib and that the Pentagon has video of the rapes.<br /><br />Many people think that they'll believe it when and if they ever see the video. But we don't need to wait for the military to release the videos. There is already proof that Hersh is right.<br /><br />The Guardian wrote in 2004:<br /><br />The October 12 memorandum, reported in the Washington Post...came to light as more details emerged of the extent of detainee abuse. Formal statements by inmates published yesterday describe horrific treatment at the hands of guards, including the rape of a teenage Iraqi boy by an army translator...<br /><br />According to the leaked memorandum ... it also called for military intelligence officials to work more closely with the military police guards at the prison to "manipulate an internee's emotions and weaknesses"...<br /><br />In the Washington Post report, one detainee, Kasim Hilas, describes the rape of an Iraqi boy by a man in uniform, whose name has been blacked out of the statement, but who appears to be a translator working for the army.<br /><br />"I saw fucking a kid, his age would be about 15-18 years. The kid was hurting very bad and they covered all the doors with sheets. Then when I heard the screaming I climbed the door because on top it wasn't covered and I saw , who was wearing the military uniform putting his dick in the little kid's ass," Mr Hilas told military investigators. "I couldn't see the face of the kid because his face wasn't in front of the door. And the female soldier was taking pictures."<br /><br />http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/may/22/iraq.usa1 <br /><br />The Telegraph wrote in 2004:<br /><br />America was braced last night for new allegations of torture in Iraq after military officials said that photographs apparently showing US soldiers beating an Iraqi prisoner nearly to death and having sex with a female PoW were about to be released.<br /><br />The officials told the US television network NBC that other images showed soldiers "acting inappropriately with a dead body". A videotape, apparently made by US personnel, is said to show Iraqi guards raping young boys.<br /><br />http://web.archive.org/web/20060427131713/http://www.te... <br /><br />There you have it: the Telegraph implied in 2004 that U.S. officials admitted that there was a video of guards raping boys. Even if the Telegraph's implication is wrong, there is strong evidence that such rapes did in fact occur as Hersh said.<br /><br />And whether or not any of the rapists were U.S. soldiers or contractors, at the very least, American soldiers aided and abetted the rape by standing around and taking videos and photographs."<br /><br />I wonder if Mr. Cheney believes this horrendous chapter in our country's history makes us safer and more of a Beacon of Liberty.<br /><br />What a tragic disgrace.<br /><br /><br />Source: <br /><br />http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5702810Shaw Kenawehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08637273000409613497noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-64630896145102752802009-05-22T21:25:00.847-04:002009-05-22T21:25:00.847-04:00A civil discussion is impossible because of the em...A civil discussion is impossible because of the emotions involved. And many good and bad emotions come into play. Revenge. Hatred. Bigotry. As well as patriotism. I wish those that support torture, or as they sanitize it, "enhanced interrogation" would realize that torture is not an excersize in patriotism. It is barbarism beneath us as Americans and human beings. I totally understand wanting to punish those that do us harm. People die in combat. When captured, torture is nothing but premeditated cruelty.Joe "Truth 101" Kellyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08875151516978133598noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-55776875103371454122009-05-22T19:58:34.581-04:002009-05-22T19:58:34.581-04:00"Is moral relativism a necessary consequence of po..."Is moral relativism a necessary consequence of political expediency?" <br /><br />Yes it is.<br /><br />Morality falls by the wayside in so many aspects of our lives because it becomes an impediment in our efforts to get from "Point A" to "Point B" in so many different avenues of our lives.<br /><br />Just take a step back and look at the issue of torture; we are discussing waterboarding which I find it hard to believe that anyone who has been swimming and stayed underwater too long would not acknowledge is cruel covers up the fact that we are labelling everyone at GITMO as 'terrorists' or we have found them guilty of a crime without means of a trial. <br /><br />We have held 1,000's of people against their will without anything other than the fact that they happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as a justification.<br /><br />After 9/11 we had the whole world on our side, including Iran, and we could have used that moment in a variety of ways to achieve our goals but we opted for the lowest road.<br /><br />Morality appears to only be a convenience not an obligation nowadays.TAOhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11452702225885449029noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-77079031098290947012009-05-22T18:25:08.893-04:002009-05-22T18:25:08.893-04:00100% agree. So true.
Many neocons are deluding th...100% agree. So true.<br /><br />Many neocons are deluding themselves about who is being tortured (apparently they're all hardcore mass murderers despite the shortage of evidence), and whether waterboarding is torture, as your example details.<br /><br />Honestly, anyone who adheres to libertarian principles (rather than just adding the name tag) wouldn't try to play down torture or suspension of legal processes.<br /><br />Now though, many of the people who supported the police state to "fight Al-Qaeda" under Bush, are now finding themselves implicated as terrorists in those DHS documents. One is reminded of that old (Christian) principle, "treat others as you would have them treat you". You reap what you sow I guess.<br /><br />I hope we can stop the police state bandwagon before it's more than "just Muslims" getting detained and tortured w/o trial.AdamShttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08217603013523768701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1883838569462983439.post-51186893957281402152009-05-22T17:12:54.987-04:002009-05-22T17:12:54.987-04:00Bad enough the invasion of Iraq is one of the low ...Bad enough the invasion of Iraq is one of the low points of US foreign policy. And bad enough torture has been used in 'intelligence gathering' during the post invasion era. <br /><br />Now it turns out prisoners were tortured prior to 2003 in hopes of forging a link between Al Qaeda and Iraq as the previous administration scrambled for a rationale for an invasion which it was prepared to launch despite the absence of any meaningful threat from Saddam Hussein's regime.<br /><br />This is a shameful episode in our nation's history and those responsible should be held accountable for their actions.Arthurstonehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01083956773592540646noreply@blogger.com