<snip>
So tell me again. What was this war about? In terms of the fight against terror, the war in Iraq has been a big loss. We've energized the enemy. We've wasted the talents of the many men and women who have fought bravely and tenaciously in Iraq. Thousands upon thousands of American men and women have lost arms or legs, or been paralyzed or blinded or horribly burned or killed in this ill-advised war. A wiser administration would have avoided that carnage and marshaled instead a more robust effort against Al Qaeda, which remains a deadly threat to America.
What is also dismaying is the way in which the administration has taken every opportunity since Sept. 11, 2001, to utilize the lofty language of freedom, democracy and the rule of law while secretly pursuing policies that are both unjust and profoundly inhumane. It is the policy of the U.S. to deny due process of law to detainees at the scandalous interrogation camp at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where prisoners, many of whom have turned out to be innocent, are routinely treated in a cruel and degrading manner.
The U.S. is also engaged in the reprehensible practice known as extraordinary rendition, in which terror suspects are abducted and sent off to be interrogated by foreign regimes that are known to practice torture. And the C.I.A. is operating ultrasecret prisons or detention centers overseas for so-called high-value detainees. What goes on in those places is anybody's guess.
It may be that most Americans would prefer not to know about these practices, which are nothing less than malignant cells that are already spreading in the nation's soul. Denial is often the first response to the most painful realities. But most Americans also know what happens when a cancer is ignored.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/21/opinion/21herbert.html?(this piece reminds me of a lyric I wrote for
The Question W Revue last summer:
WHY? (A MOTHER'S LAMENT) - Music by Brooks Cowan/Lyrics by Jeff Matson
NO, I DON'T FEEL ANY SAFER
AND I AM NO LESS AFRAID.
I MARCHED TO STOP THIS MADNESS
HAVE WE BEEN BETRAYED?
YOU SAID THE THREAT WAS REAL.
YOU SAID THAT WE HAD CAUSE TO FEAR
BUT WAS THE MOTIVATION CLEAR?
DID MY CHILD DIE FOR A LIE?
THE COFFINS ARRIVE IN DARKNESS
THE WOUNDED KEPT OUT OF SIGHT.
YOU SAID YOU'D HUG EACH MOTHER
BUT I'M STILL WAITING
YOU'LL NEVER KNOWN THIS PAIN
MY CHILD WAS NOT PROTECTED
BY PRIVILEGE LIKE YOURS
CAN YOU EXPLAIN?
I ASK YOU AGAIN
PLEASE, WHAT WAS THIS WAR FOR?
WAS IT ALL A LIE?
WHY DID MY SON DIE?
WAS IT ALL A LIE?
WHAT WILL YOU TELL THE CHILDREN?
TELL THE WIDOWS?
TELL THE MOTHERS?
TELL THE NATION NOW?
THERE WERE NO WEAPONS FOUND.
SO WAS YOUR REASONING SOUND?
DID YOU DECEIVE ME?
WHO SHOULD I BELIEVE?
WAS IT BLOOD FOR OIL?
HAVE YOU SEEN OUR FAMILIES GRIEVE?
THROUGH MY TEARS
I WILL SPEAK OUT
UNTIL I'M HEARD
SO HEAR ME NOW I WILL BE ANSWERED
MY FAM'LY PAID THE HIGHEST PRICE OF ALL.
NOW WE CAN GIVE NO MORE.
AND SIR, HIS NAME WAS PAUL.
PLEASE, WHAT WAS THIS WAR FOR?
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