Charles Krauthammer’s piece on our op-ed page today feels so much like a direct counterpoint to Tom Friedman’s piece earlier in the week that I thought I’d provide you with this link to help you compare them to one another.
I always enjoy Mr. Krauthammer’s columns, and usually agree with them. But this time, he’s wrong. The detention facility at Gitmo represents a serious strategic liability to the United States in the war on terror. It’s not just the latest thing about the Koran. Like Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo has become a symbol that stands for American hypocrisy. It doesn’t matter whether that perception is accurate. We cannot afford to keep operating such a symbol when we are fighting for liberal democracy, and most of the world believes we practice the opposite at that place.
Mr. Friedman wrote from the perspective of one who, like me, believed in this war from the beginning, and wants us to win it. That’s more important than standing on our pride, and essentially saying, "Well, since WE know we didn’t do anything wrong, let’s just tell everybody who says otherwise to take a flying leap." Even if it’s all unfounded, those who are propagating this image are winning the PR battle. So let’s try something else. Let’s be pragmatic. Let’s WIN.
Related Posts
I’m in the Hammer’s camp, in part because no matter what we do, we’ll be criticized.
The current wave of criticism of Guantanamo splashed ashore thanks to Newsweek’s misreporting of Koran abuse, the PeePot Tome scandal. Today’s WaPo (free registrations required) reports that the US military’s report of Koran mishandling found “five confirmed cases of U.S. personnel mishandling the Koran at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, acknowledging that soldiers and interrogators kicked the Muslim holy book, got copies wet, stood on a Koran during an interrogation and inadvertently sprayed urine on another copy.”
CNN’s version takes another tack based on the same investigation, reporting
That’s how we got to where we are today, and the ever willy-nilly Mr. Friedman opts for the “let’s make a gesture” approach, as though that would make a difference to those motivated by simple anti-Americanism, the sickness of the West. Our winner this week is of course Amnesty International, an organization that trashed whatever credibility it had by calling US terrorist detention centers a “gulag,” forever cheapening the real meaning of that word. I am in a way thankful for this, because I now no longer have to pay any attention to what that organization has to say, because I know what a gulag is: Auschwitz without the Zyklon B. Death was probable, but not inevitable, and was slower.
Looking at the sunny side, Guantanamo is an ideal location. It’s more secure than almost any location. Guam was an early candidate, but as a US possession its legal status was uncertain. Moreover, given the growing threat of piracy and Jihaist activity in that neck of the woods, a coordinated attack or attempt at a jailbreak would seem inevitable.
How about domestic locations? Imagine a detention center at Ft. Jackson and how the community might react. In fact, let’s require that those who support closing Gitmo provide an alternative location and what measures would be necessary to protect the local populace from themselves as well as from outsiders.
Being responsible is sometimes poor public relations. The US has been fighting the War on Terror with one arm tied behind its back, but it has been consistent, as have been the world’s elites. The US won’t get great credit for what it does, whether it’s the Proliferation Security Initiative – the US-led band of ten nations (including France!) that’s interdicting WMD on the high seas – or the US response to the Boxing Day tsunami.
The reality is that our critics are just like the guy who attacks us and asserts his position and credibility by screaming “My grandfather died at Auschwitz!” He fails to note that the old guy got drunk and broke his neck falling out of a guard tower.
Hmmm. Perhaps The Kid should read the latest news from the Pentagon where the Koran abuse is admitted. Need a link?
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/060405Y.shtml
Pentagon: Koran Defiled
By Richard A. Serrano
The Los Angeles Times
Saturday 04 June 2005
An Army commander’s report details five instances of the holy book being desecrated at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
A judge has also ordered the release of 100 more photos of the Abu Ghraid scandal. Wonder where all these photos originated?
Like Mr. Warthen, I agree that the U.S. has a vital interest in the Middle East. What I would like to know is how will those interests be served if we LOSE in Iraq? And how are U.S. interests furthered if we are so damaging our once powerful and hopeful image with atrocities against our enemies which give the bad guys even more ammunition to use against us?
I APPLAUDED Mr. bush for going into Afghanistan after 9-11 but why was the American public given a bait and switch for Iraq which further weakens the credibiltiy of our government?
Had Mr. Bush made the case for going into Iraq to protect our economic interests as well as to help the Iraqi people to begin with, would that not have resonated with the public? I have a huge problem with the bait and switch they did. I have a huge problem with the secrecy of this administration; with the new special black ops folks who answer to Mr. Rumsfeld and the Defense Dept. with no congressional oversight; with some aspects of The Patriot Act that could allow those special ops folks to go after a politcal opponent not on the “right” side of the debate; with the labeling of citizens who were asking thoughtful questions as “unpatriotic;” with having a propaganda network like FOX, RUSH and all the other right wing, flag-waving, hysteria-producing cabal led by Rove and other high ranking republicans.
I am still wondering where the Texas strain of ANTHRAX that was released on Tom Dashle’s offices and at Tom Brokaw’s network came from. I find it very interesting that that particular little piece of history just went away and no more has been heard about it.
Do you suppose that some of those special ops folks of Rummy’s might have had anything to do with that? (Oh, I know, all of us who are wondering about that litle episode are those loony “conspiracy theorists” aren’t we? But what a way to keep our domestic “enemies” in line!)
The right-wing attack on our media including Newsweek and CBS among others is a typical “kill the messenger” approach of keeping the truth from the American people and it is a disservice to our democracy. If they can stifle the media, they can do as they please unfettered by any constraints.
Absolute power corrupts. History has shown us that repeatedly. Those lessons should be heeded in our current situation.
T. Crow –
I highly recommend the utilization of Occam’s razor since it generally steers one away from conspiracy theories and wild assumptions: When multiple explanations are available for a phenomenon, the simplest version is preferred.
The cases of Koran abuse at Gitmo are minor. In fact, one could argue (Austin Bay and others have) that the headline for the military’s Peepot Tome Scandal report should have been:
Fifteen to Five: Terrorists Beat Gitmo Guards in Koran “Mishandling” .
Why? The prisoners committed more acts of disrespect than US military personnel did. One has to dig a little into most of the articles on the investigative report to find this and other nuggets.
As for Abu Ghraib, the abuse of prisoners was found by the US military which announced in January 2004 that it had launched an investigation. The pictures became public in April when CBS and others got them, probably from defendants’ attorneys. and published them.
It looks to me like Abu Ghraib was the result of poor supervision of the prison in general and six knuckleheads on the mid-shift in particular, some of whom had records of disciplinary action in their civilian occupation as prison guards. Around the Defense Department the folks are known as “The Six Morons Who Lost the War.” Note that some of the accused have pleaded guilty and so far – admittedly more info might become available – no one higher has been implicated. Did Rumsfeld impregnate Lynndie England while briefing the six on how to abuse common criminals? Time will tell…
Here’s a really good fact-based summary of Abu Ghraib. Lyndie England, a clerk who worked the day shift, was under orders not to visit the cellblock where her boyfriend Graner worked on the night shift. On the night of November 7-8, 2003 Specialist Graner – warm-hearted guy that he his – decided to surprise Lyndie for her birthday. Did you know that most of the abuse pictures come from that special night, courtesy of the perpetrators. They shared their digital rendition of Lyndie’s birthday celebration – Exhibit A in the cases against them. There’s a good reason why DOD did not put the pix out first – they were evidence in criminal proceedings, this was a law enforcement matter, and these things are treated quite seriously in the military.
What bait and switch? Bush always said Saddam was a threat, always argued for liberation of the Iraqi people, and, like other world leaders, always believed that Saddam had WMD. Have you forgotten the Iraq Liberation Act of 1998 (PL 105-338)? (Here’s Clinton’s statement when signing the act.) But the legal rationale for the invasion was Saddam’s failure to adhere to the UN resolutions. Bush sold his case to the American people, to the Congress, and finally to the UN.
I am afraid, very afraid, to join you in your discussion about the anthrax and am, to be quire frank, disturbed at your allegations surrounding our special operations forces. We have troops in 63 countries doing a variety of things, some openly, some not. What you imply is treason, an extraordinary claim that requires extraordinary proof, not ill-informed speculation. We do have idiots in the US military, but the services are honorable – they live on honor, don’t forget that – and are their own harshest critics.
Finally, as for the “right-wing attack on our media,” sounds like free speech to me. Look at how the media elites operate. Eason Jordan, CNN news honcho, wrote an op-ed in which he admitted that CNN had deliberately covered up or not reported known human rights abuses by Hussein’s regime and the Ba’athists so that his news agency could maintain access. At the time, it was something of a flap, since a news agency that prides itself on “objectivity” was essentially admitting that it never was. Just a few months ago at the World Economic Forum in Davos Switzerland, Mr. Jordan claimed that the American military of targeting journalists for assassination; a Congressman, Barney Frank, was there and immediately objected. Eventually, with not a lot of help from the mainstream media, Jordan resigned.
Last month, Linda Foley, international president of the Newspaper Guild, accused the U.S. military of targeting journalists for death“in places like Iraq.”
But Ms. Foley learned from Easongate and clarified her remarks to Editor & Publisher:
Aha! The US military, not US troops. That explains it – she is stooopid.
So it seems I no longer have to pay any attention to charges of attacks by the right wing or to anything that the Newspaper Guild – the journalists union – has to say.
My advice to you is to keep that tinfoil hat on tight – try Nashua 398 duct tape, the best all around tape you’ll find unless you spend a lot of time outside. In that case, I recommend the 3M UVA/UVB duct tape, truly wonderful.
Just had to add the latest from the incomparable Lileks.