Monday, May 30, 2005Me-Nation Peaking Through Too Much
Bill R.: I have to agree with Dan G. on this. To practice full transparency, I am a retired military officer, so what Dan says hits me close to home. And while I hope the torture incidents are due to a few bad apples (and not a rotten grocery store), the perception is the same overseas. And its not due just to prisoner mistreatment. Our intel failures are perceived as evidence of more wishful thinking. "We can't trust them cause they want to go to war..."
Don't get me wrong, I think the war in Iraq is justified, and even if not 100% behind it, we should support our military men and women. After all, they didn't decide to go to war, our elected officials did = the President in consult with the Congress did. And once the decision was made, I for one certainly want our military to do it right; to win; to accomplish the objectives set for them.
To put this in context, some years ago I worked in NATO. While there, I developed a close and lasting relationship with a German military officer. We travelled together on business to Boston and I took him to the Minute Man National Historic Park in Concord - American Revolution - 'Shot Heard Round the World' and all that. Even for us, one topic we never discussed was their (the German) loss in WWI and WWII. But he brought it up by saying, "You Americans are so lucky. You've never had to live on the loosing side." And before you jump to Vietnam, he meant INSIDE our country with an occupied force! So you bet I want our military to be the most capable in the world. But I also want responsible national leadership so our military force is used wisely.
As the bumper sticker says "America, home of the free, because of the brave."
Like most Americans who sometimes finds fault with my government at home, I defend my nation when traveling abroad. In the past several years the distaste with which much of the world holds the U.S. has grown, and I've grown more defensive in some ways as well. For all our faults, America stands for some things that make me proud.
But in his column today, the NY Times' Bob Herbert capably describes the growing difficulty we have in staying proud of our unease many feel. This is a time when the U.S. uses and condones torture; denies people any rights on the say-so of the president; uses secrecy as a baseline; and in such actions shames the better parts of our heritage. Key quote:
This is much more than an image problem. The very idea of what it means to be American is at stake. The United States is a country that as a matter of policy (and in the name of freedom) "renders" people to regimes that specialize in the art of torture.
America is my home. I want it to be a positive example for the world. We are risking more than global contempt with our actions, but I fear we don't understand why.
The men and women whom we honor on Memorial Day died for an ideal. When we torture people, even our enemies, and show such profound disrespect for what we stand for, we dishonor those memories.
- Posted by William A. Riski - 6:58:30 PM - comment []
