"From unpleasant things."
Sorry, Blogger cut off the rest of the quote. I suppose it's too long for the headline function. In any case, former Vice President Dick Cheney gave an amazing speech today, knocking down those critics of the War on Terror Overseas Contingency Operations and our treatment of terrorists manmade disasterists.
Another term out there that slipped into the discussion is the notion that American interrogation practices were a “recruitment tool” for the enemy. On this theory, by the tough questioning of killers, we have supposedly fallen short of our own values. This recruitment-tool theory has become something of a mantra lately, including from the President himself. And after a familiar fashion, it excuses the violent and blames America for the evil that others do. It’s another version of that same old refrain from the Left, “We brought it on ourselves.”
It is much closer to the truth that terrorists hate this country precisely because of the values we profess and seek to live by, not by some alleged failure to do so. Nor are terrorists or those who see them as victims exactly the best judges of America’s moral standards, one way or the other.
Critics of our policies are given to lecturing on the theme of being consistent with American values. But no moral value held dear by the American people obliges public servants ever to sacrifice innocent lives to spare a captured terrorist from unpleasant things. And when an entire population is targeted by a terror network, nothing is more consistent with American values than to stop them.
Certain people have argued that our treatment of manmade disasterists have led to the creation of more disasterists. Yet, as Cheney points out, those inclined to attempt to destroy America have always had a laundry list of complaints, any and all of which suit their purpose. To say that waterboarding three hardened disasterists has caused their zeal is folly.
Not to be upstaged by Darth Vader, Teh One also gave a speech on national security. Unfortunately, his sounded circular and illogical. From Hot Air:
In a nutshell: We must look forward while also remembering that everything is Bush’s fault, and we must not abandon our core ideals unless doing so would make things too difficult for The One.
This really is the essence of Obama's philosophy: we must stand firm unless standing firm hurts my approval ratings. Then I can be flexible.
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