PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
PAtownhall.com
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
Pennsylvania's Marketplace of Ideas
by Chris Freind
If you're asking about that ringing sound in your ears, it's not Christmas bells. Instead, it's the sound of al-Qaida laughing hysterically at how inept America's "leaders" are in dealing with the War on Terror.
From our refusal to profile passengers flying on our planes to having endless debates about whether we can use waterboarding, a non-harmful interrogation tactic, the United States continues its march towards self-destruction---all in the name of political correctness.
The latest episode revolves around tapes used by the CIA to video its interrogations of enemy combatants. After the tapes were reviewed to glean as much intelligence as possible, they were destroyed to protect the identity of the interrogators. And now the Democratic Congress and various media entities are calling for people's heads, even looking into criminal charges for those involved.
Criminal charges? What's wrong with this picture? What's illegal? I wasn't aware that videoing prisoners and subsequently destroying the tape violated any law. And it's not like the CIA was gathering evidence for a trial. They were simply trying to extract valuable information---that might save American lives.
I thought the people being interrogated were the bad guys, not the CIA officers who were simply trying to...oh, I don't know...stop another 9/11 attack. I guess that doesn't rate as an admirable goal anymore. Or at least it takes a backseat to granting civil rights to people who drive planes into our buildings, blow up ships and subways, and strap dynamite to their ten-year old children.
Why are these people being treated as U.S. citizens, with all the rights and privileges thereof?
The favored buzz phrase of the Blame America crowd (and this is a non-partisan group, from John McCain to Nancy Pelosi): "We need to be above such interrogations, as we are the leader of the world and have to set an example."
This is nothing more than code-speak for telling our enemies that we are weak, divided, and have no will. Which is unfortunately a dead-on assessment of America.
Consider Presidential contender McCain's comments on Fox News Sunday: "The actions, I think, were absolutely wrong... there will be skepticism and cynicism all over the world about how we treat prisoners and whether we practice torture or not." One of his rivals, Mike Huckabee, insinuated that the tapes were destroyed "...to cover somebody's rear end."
Just the type of leadership we need in our next Commander-in-Chief.
What is there to cover up? Why do "rear ends" need covering at all? Isn't interrogating terrorists the job of our intelligence agencies? Why can't we simply let them do their job? If they cut the fingers off prisoners or mutilated them in other ways to extract information, that would be a different story. But they didn't. So what's the issue, outside of the need for political grandstanding?
I have to wonder what McCain was referring to when he says the CIA's actions were "absolutely wrong". Destroying the tapes or the interrogation itself, even though he is unaware of what the interrogation involved? Nothing like snap judgments, Senator.
And as far as "cynicism and skepticism", let's set the record straight. Who exactly are we trying to impress? Is it the Arab world? If so, how we interrogate prisoners doesn't even rank as to why they don't like us. Remember that these are people to whom waterboarding is pre-kindergarten stuff. They lean toward more direct methods, such as cutting off hands, stoning, and beheading.
Are we trying to ingratiate ourselves with the Europeans, kings of political correctness, and biggest hypocrites of all? These people want us to aggressively interrogate prisoners because deep down, they know it needs to be done, and they know they benefit from our actions. Unfortunately, they also know that we will always do the heavy lifting, because that is who we are; this allows them to sit back, above the fray and secure in their ivory towers, criticizing the very tactics that keep them safe. This should come as no surprise. We have always come to Europe's aid, saving its hide in two World Wars and then spending trillions to defend them, all while they ignore their own defense budgets and spend that money on themselves. The true definition of "class".
Or are we trying to lead al-Qaida by example? Perhaps McCain is right. Maybe if we keep feeding our enemy combatants three solid meals a day, keep giving them world-class medical care, and continuously accommodate their wishes for amenities, they will return the favor when our soldiers are captured.
Yeah, maybe.
Or we can live in the real world. How soon some forget what actually happens when our people are captured. The beheadings that are shown to the world, the dragging of bodies through the streets, the disemboweling, and dismemberment. Do we not remember the charred remains of our soldiers and contractors being hung from bridges? And pay no attention to the fact that they zealously continue their quest to slam us again, bigger and better than last time.
Maybe if we just politely ask our detainees for sensitive information, like their financial network, their comrades' whereabouts, and the battle-plans to kill Americans, they will just tell us.
If John McCain chooses to believe in the tooth fairy, that's his business, but I prefer my CIA to do the job with which it is charged, and having my political leaders back them.
Let's wipe that smirk off al-Qaida's---and Europe's--- face.
Chris Freind can be contacted at CF@TheBulletin.us
