How Others See Us: UAE
How's this for a headline: "We thought America did not torture!" That's what headed an editorial in the January 31, 2008 edition of the United Arab Emirate's Khaleej Times. It wasn't that long ago that I would have been shocked by such an insulting statement. Now, however, I can only nod at its truth.
US ATTORNEY-General Michael Mukasey’s defence of controversial CIA interrogation techniques that came to the fore after 9/11 is yet another testimony to the low regard the Bush administration accords to overwhelming international and domestic opinion.
Actually, the Bush White House’s failure to come to terms with reality, the inability to meet set targets despite two terms in office, goes to show just why Washington has been so unsuccessful in the so-called war against terrorism.
Just when the world was beginning to notice signs that Washington might be diverting a little from its high handed brute-force approach that has typified its post 9/11 policy, the president himself in the state of the union address and the AG before Congress have proved that little has changed in the official position. Ideological and long-term as this war is, most observing and engaged in it have embraced the realisation that dealing with the militant-terrorism menace would require more than war. It entails going back to its roots, displaying a thorough understanding of its growth, and then halting further spread before moving to pluck it out altogether. It requires a parallel battle of minds, but not one fought with armies.
Unfortunately, even though tanks, bombs and torture techniques have only distanced Washington from its goal, it is as if the Bush administration does not even notice how far it has drifted from the original objective, still expressing confidence in its methods. The occupiers’ prison abuses that made headlines, and CIA torture techniques that the world got to know of later received widespread condemnation not only because they were inhuman, but because as flag-bearer of the free world, the US was expected to do better. [Emphasis added]
A while back, I suggested that George W. Bush might very well hold the distinction of having lost two wars while in office. I misunderestimated him: he will have lost three. Some legacy, that.
Even more damaging, however, is what the US has lost under his administration: thousands of Americans, world opinion, and our Constitution.
Heckuva job, George.
US ATTORNEY-General Michael Mukasey’s defence of controversial CIA interrogation techniques that came to the fore after 9/11 is yet another testimony to the low regard the Bush administration accords to overwhelming international and domestic opinion.
Actually, the Bush White House’s failure to come to terms with reality, the inability to meet set targets despite two terms in office, goes to show just why Washington has been so unsuccessful in the so-called war against terrorism.
Just when the world was beginning to notice signs that Washington might be diverting a little from its high handed brute-force approach that has typified its post 9/11 policy, the president himself in the state of the union address and the AG before Congress have proved that little has changed in the official position. Ideological and long-term as this war is, most observing and engaged in it have embraced the realisation that dealing with the militant-terrorism menace would require more than war. It entails going back to its roots, displaying a thorough understanding of its growth, and then halting further spread before moving to pluck it out altogether. It requires a parallel battle of minds, but not one fought with armies.
Unfortunately, even though tanks, bombs and torture techniques have only distanced Washington from its goal, it is as if the Bush administration does not even notice how far it has drifted from the original objective, still expressing confidence in its methods. The occupiers’ prison abuses that made headlines, and CIA torture techniques that the world got to know of later received widespread condemnation not only because they were inhuman, but because as flag-bearer of the free world, the US was expected to do better. [Emphasis added]
A while back, I suggested that George W. Bush might very well hold the distinction of having lost two wars while in office. I misunderestimated him: he will have lost three. Some legacy, that.
Even more damaging, however, is what the US has lost under his administration: thousands of Americans, world opinion, and our Constitution.
Heckuva job, George.
Labels: Bush Legacy, Torture
posted by Diane at 1:15 PM
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