David Gregory, NBC News' Chief White House Correspondent asked President Bush: "If the CIA officer, paramilitary, or special operations soldier from the United States were captured in Iran or North Korea, and they were roughed up, and those governments said; 'Well they were interrogated in accordance with our interpretation of the Geneva Conventions'. And then they were put on trial. And they were convicted based on secret evidence that they were not able to see, how would you react to that?"
Is this Intellectual or moral bankruptcy? It's both.
Intellectually, the hypothetical used to critique the United States interrogation and military tribunal system, has no basis in reality. If the countries in question captured any such representative of the United States, they would only admit it after torturing the prisoner to the point of being brainwashed to repeat their dictation word for word. Evidence would be whatever the State says is true despite the facts. President Bush gave the appropriate answer.
Morally, the answer is similar. To compare the United States to North Korea, or Iran, is in itself dishonest. The people of North Korea under Kim Jung Il live a nightmarish existence where political dissidents are systematically starved to death, people of faith slaughtered and other atrocities beyond comprehension committed. Iran has vowed to destroy a sovereign nation, the rights of women are suppressed and you are free to believe the one true faith, theirs.
Lets not put this all on the medias shoulders.
After all they are part of a formidable tag team; Senator McCain and the Democrats. Look what the democrats and media accomplished in South Africa, bringing an end to apartheid. Think of the resources aimed at Karl Rove and the Valerie Plame, or President Bush and his service in the National Guard. How many lives could be saved if the same effort was made opposing North Korea, or bringing the Muslim world to respond to the Islamo-fascists. Or if they hadn't driven the United States out of Vietnam. Kim Jung Il or other dictators need not take pause to think of how the world will respond when they act.
MSNBC
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14848798/
North Korean/Chinese atrocities
www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/5/7/120250.shtml
My intention with this blog is to be concise and leave openings in my discourse for interpretation, stimulating ethical thought rather than detailed arguments. However typing in 'North Korean Atrocities" into the ask.com search engine I found myself mortified. Even though I had heard personal testimonies of the life in North Korea in the past, I could only imagine that it must have been getting better. I was shocked. If we call God our Father, how can we stand still as our brother and sisters are suffering unimaginable abuse?
Shame on David Gregory for propagating this thoughtless swill. Shame on our liberal politicians. Shame on the mainstream media. Shame on the UN.
I hang my head.
0 comments:
Post a Comment