Unrestrained Detainment Continued
posted by Will
Happy Thanksgiving.
Reaction to the launch of civilian criminal proceedings against Jose Padilla continues. Look anywhere and you will find it, but the best example is from Dahlia Lithwick at Slate. One can only believe that that degree to which any person pays attention to this story is the degree to which they will conclude two things: (1) that the administration is at base adrift on the question of how to combine American values and principles with running an effective war on terror, and (2) that Democrats have been far too impotent for far too long in their criticism of this essential failure of the Republican-dominated government.
cont'd after link
Instead of debating the serious policy questions involving our security and our place in the world, nakedly partisan and downright nasty claims by the administration that being critical of its bad choices in Iraq or in its conduct of the war on terror is unpatriotic, and that they are the sole arbiters of American Values have put their credibility on thin ice at best, and deep in the abyss at worst.
The tragedy is that they have no standing left from which to conduct an effective war on terror. Nothing serious will be accomplished until a balance of power at the federal level is restored.
There are better ways to fight and win the war on terror, and it is to everyone's shame that the debate over our best strategy for winning should be constantly overshadowed by moral debates over basic questions of decency that the administration never fails to shine a spotlight on with its actions.
Reaction to the launch of civilian criminal proceedings against Jose Padilla continues. Look anywhere and you will find it, but the best example is from Dahlia Lithwick at Slate. One can only believe that that degree to which any person pays attention to this story is the degree to which they will conclude two things: (1) that the administration is at base adrift on the question of how to combine American values and principles with running an effective war on terror, and (2) that Democrats have been far too impotent for far too long in their criticism of this essential failure of the Republican-dominated government.
cont'd after link
Instead of debating the serious policy questions involving our security and our place in the world, nakedly partisan and downright nasty claims by the administration that being critical of its bad choices in Iraq or in its conduct of the war on terror is unpatriotic, and that they are the sole arbiters of American Values have put their credibility on thin ice at best, and deep in the abyss at worst.
The tragedy is that they have no standing left from which to conduct an effective war on terror. Nothing serious will be accomplished until a balance of power at the federal level is restored.
There are better ways to fight and win the war on terror, and it is to everyone's shame that the debate over our best strategy for winning should be constantly overshadowed by moral debates over basic questions of decency that the administration never fails to shine a spotlight on with its actions.
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