Tortured analysis
You don't have to like George Bush to understand that this country is nowhere close to the state that supported Nazi Germany, yet local blogger Bruce Humphrey, along with a number of national Bush-haters have started to claim just such a comparison based on a bunch of rehashed accusations about U.S. torture of prisoners captured in connection with the war on terror. Humphrey cites an hysterically asinine column by Editor and Publisher Editor, Greg Mitchell, in which Mitchell allows a third party to call Bush a "War Criminal," based on the torture issue.
Strangely, Mitchell alludes to the real issue in a reference to an Andrew Sullivan column:
“A couple of things need to be stressed, because I've learned the hard way that intelligent people simply refuse to absorb what is staring them in the face, when what is staring them in the face is so staggering."
I would submit that what the media and many on the left refuse to absorb is the threat that is facing us in this war but I've beat that horse and you can click on the terrorism link to the left of this column to get some reference point.
My speculation is that since the war has shown a glimmer of hope, the left have decided to focus on something other than the effectiveness of the war or the claim that no terrorists were in Iraq or that the surge won't work.
Back to the torture issue. Former Attorney General, Bill Barr, did a great job of clarifying the protections under the Geneva Convention in an interview on Laura Ingraham's show in 2005. Here is the audio clip (It is 3 MB so give it a minute to load) but understand clearly that to get the benefits of the Geneva convention an army must sign the Convention and the army must also conform to the conventions of war - wearing uniforms out in the open, not hiding among civilians, etc. Neither Al Qaeda nor the Taliban signed the treaty and certainly don't follow a single convention of war - heck, according to most liberals and the media in America, Al Qaeda isn't even in Iraq, so what's all the complaining about?
Charles Krauthammer also wrote an excellent article on this for The Weekly Standard in 2005, that last time that a concerted effort was made by the left to declare Bush a criminal based on treatment of prisoners.
Finally, let's get some perspective on who sits in the camp with Nazis. It isn't George Bush is it?
Strangely, Mitchell alludes to the real issue in a reference to an Andrew Sullivan column:
“A couple of things need to be stressed, because I've learned the hard way that intelligent people simply refuse to absorb what is staring them in the face, when what is staring them in the face is so staggering."
I would submit that what the media and many on the left refuse to absorb is the threat that is facing us in this war but I've beat that horse and you can click on the terrorism link to the left of this column to get some reference point.
My speculation is that since the war has shown a glimmer of hope, the left have decided to focus on something other than the effectiveness of the war or the claim that no terrorists were in Iraq or that the surge won't work.
Back to the torture issue. Former Attorney General, Bill Barr, did a great job of clarifying the protections under the Geneva Convention in an interview on Laura Ingraham's show in 2005. Here is the audio clip (It is 3 MB so give it a minute to load) but understand clearly that to get the benefits of the Geneva convention an army must sign the Convention and the army must also conform to the conventions of war - wearing uniforms out in the open, not hiding among civilians, etc. Neither Al Qaeda nor the Taliban signed the treaty and certainly don't follow a single convention of war - heck, according to most liberals and the media in America, Al Qaeda isn't even in Iraq, so what's all the complaining about?
Charles Krauthammer also wrote an excellent article on this for The Weekly Standard in 2005, that last time that a concerted effort was made by the left to declare Bush a criminal based on treatment of prisoners.
Finally, let's get some perspective on who sits in the camp with Nazis. It isn't George Bush is it?
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