Quote:
Originally posted by RACooper
Actually I thought that the recognition of the legal rights of all individuals was a cornerstone of American society and law... and this was one of the essential freedoms that Bush cited in his address to Congress in his arguement for war in Iraq.
|
My thought on this is that some people are more entitled to rights than others. If you make a choice to make it your profession to kill innocent people and operate in an organization whose sole purpose is to kill and deprive others of their rights, I don't believe you are entitled to the same rights as regular, average citizens. Bush's speach was not about giving equal rights to terrorists. It was about being at war with these people and trying to eradicate them through any means necessary.
Sometimes war ain't pretty. The Geneva convention and other international law items were created for the purpose of ensuring that POW's on each side were treated humanely.
I don't know about you, but I personally think the other side by decapitating its hostages doesn't really respect international law in that area -- I'm willing and most Americans are willing to condone torture, violence, whatever needs to happen if it saves innocent lives. In my mind these terrorist thugs are not human, they're animals and should be treated as such.
We've afforded their soldiers a completely different level of respect. In fact, all but their highest leaders walked free (and many of their leaders have walked free as well). Terrorists and insurgents are not afforded the same rights and that's fine with me.