Fear and It's Consequences
Krulak and Hoar on torture.

• Fear can be a strong motivator. It led Franklin Roosevelt to intern tens of thousands of innocent U.S. citizens during World War II; it led to Joseph McCarthy's witch hunt, which ruined the lives of hundreds of Americans. And it led the United States to adopt a policy at the highest levels that condoned and even authorized torture of prisoners in our custody.

Values matter. One of the greatest tests of a nation's values is how it treats its enemies once captured. The standards of the Geneva Convention should be afforded to any captured enemy, despite the fact that many/most of their leaders would not do the same. If we want to be the "good guys", we have to act like it.

• Revelations of abuse feed what the Army's new counterinsurgency manual, which was drafted under the command of Gen. David Petraeus, calls the "recuperative power" of the terrorist enemy.

(Note the backgrounds of Krulak and Hoar if the names are not familiar.)
- posted by john @ 7:49 PM