Thursday, May 14, 2009

Does it matter?

What Digby said:
I actually take this argument a step further and say that by refusing to completely repudiate torture and hold those who devised the regime responsible, we are making ourselves substantially less safe. Superpowers which are seen as tyrannical and which believe that the ends justify the means are not considered trustworthy by the rest of the world. It's possible that it doesn't matter if the rest of the world finds us threatening and, frankly, evil. But it is going to cost us a huge amount in blood and treasure to maintain our security under those circumstances. (I won't even mention the potential economic fallout of becoming a pariah nation.)

This gets to the fundamental difference of opinon between liberals and conservatives about America's role in the world. They think we are a military empire which must constantly prove its toughness and brutally demonstrate its willingness to do whatever it takes to "defend" its interests (which is defined as dominance.) Liberals (would like to) see America as a powerful leader of nations and an example of civilized, cooperative behavior based upon trust and mutual interest. Conservatives believe we must dominate, liberals believe we should engage.

Torture, of course, stands alone as a despicable betrayal of decent human values. But as the argument evolves, we are seeing the foreign policy implications start to emerge as well. I always assumed that the Obama administration understood this better than anyone and it is one of the things about which I was truly optimistic. But it's looking less likely that we are truly going to see a break with the bipartisan consensus on American military power and substantive change in our approach to world leadership.

People around the world do like Obama and still have great hopes. But it won't last forever if the only thing they get is lip service and it appears that the administration is driving down America's hawkish road, just like the ones who came before him. To persuade them that America has truly repudiated the Bush years, he's going to have to do more than simply assure everyone that "America doesn't torture" and leave it at that. After all, George W. Bush said exactly the same thing.
And Joan Walsh.

1 comment:

Ruth said...

Not sure that we aren't torturing our own 'troops' as much as anyone. Third deployment; do you need any other reason to snap?