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| Wednesday, June 08, 2005 |
| The larger cost |
One serious criticism I have of the Bush administration is that it is incredibly short-sighted. They seem to make decisions that they believe are in our interests today (debatable on many things) without considering the longer-term cost, often repuational, that Americans incur as a result of those actions. For example, by toppling Iraq's government without a well-reasoned argument or a strategy for ensuring the safety of the country and improving its infrastructure in the post-war period, the U.S. has fostered a culture in which young Iraqis (and other Muslims) grow up with ever increasing hatred of the U.S.
I feel the same way about Guantanamo. Of course it's a good idea to lock up selected terrorists during a period of war, but by denying them due process for multiple years and subjecting them to torture and humiliation (including desecrating the Qu'ran), we are negating the short-term "good" of protecting ourselves by dramatically increasing the likelihood that others will want to attack us in the future. That's why I'm happy that it appears there are discussions about closing the Guantanamo detention facility.
Update: Rumsfeld denies it |
posted by CB @ 4:18 PM   |
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| 2 Comments: |
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I think Dean was on the right track when he was staying under the radar and building the organization infrastructure quietly. Unfortunately, him saying anything even mildly controversial is going to be a story - that's the media's version of him - so he was to be cognizant of that and be more careful than your average pol. So what he said was badly worded, given that it played right into the Dean charicature.
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Did you realize you put 'terrorists' and 'due process' in the same paragraph?
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I think Dean was on the right track when he was staying under the radar and building the organization infrastructure quietly. Unfortunately, him saying anything even mildly controversial is going to be a story - that's the media's version of him - so he was to be cognizant of that and be more careful than your average pol. So what he said was badly worded, given that it played right into the Dean charicature.