COLD WAR REDUX


As the "few bad apples" defense of the Bushies on the Iraqi Prison Scandal continues to crumble, it becomes more and more apparent that both sides, Left and Right are set on repeating all the mistakes of the Cold War. The Left-wing has already given us the knee-jerk anti-Americanism and apologetics for tyranny. With Abu Ghraib we see have a War on Terror version of Right-wing justification for slipping towards the moral abyss of the enemy. Moral purity in this battle is a luxury we cannot afford - the notion that terrorists like the late Shiek Yassin or bin Laden should be dealt with in a court of law is absurd. But to indiscriminately apply techniques that at best are justified in "ticking time bomb" situations to Iraq - which despite the presence of al Qaeda and ex-Baathists remained a more traditional counter-insurgency environment - demonstrates the same lack of judgment and moral backbone that led past administrations to sully America's name by partnering with "anti-Communist" despots. To win this war, the center must hold - which means we can neither afford a right-wing whitewash of the atrocities at Abu Ghraib no a left-wing backlash against using the force we need to win this war. If, as alleged, the roots of Abu Ghraib can be traced to the Pentagon, it is particularly ironic that the very
architects of the surgical attack plan that so scrupulously aimed to minimize collateral damage to civilians would be responsible for frittering away that moral and political accomplishment with such an indiscriminate approach to defending the country once taken.