u235

Lindsey Graham.

07/18/06

10:38:02 am, by u235

, 244 words, 38 views

Categories: Politkxsrgarg

Lindsey Graham.

“What I’m trying to do with my time in the Senate during this whole debate we’re having is to remind the Senate that the rules we set up speak more about us than it does the enemy.” “The enemy has no rules. They don’t give people trials, they summarily execute them and they’re brutal, inhuman creatures. But when we capture one of them, what we do is about us, not about them.

“Do they deserve, the bad ones, all the rights that are afforded? No. But are we required to do it because of what we believe? Yes.”

To me a man is someone who stands by his principles regardless of which side his political bread is buttered on. Mr.Graham, Senator of South Carolina is a man. His banground in military law is untouchable as reserve judge on the Air Force Court of Criminal Appeals and a former military lawyer. In essence this man knows his shit, and knows it well.

Given the importance of the issue, to me the writer, I don't feel bad repeating his concept in more direct terms: What makes America better than the terrorists who are attacking us is the fact that we have laws and we respect them. Terrorists do not - they have no laws, that is why they are terrorists. To distinguish ourselves for them it is essential that we not forget who we are, lest we become just another terrorist ourselves.

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Comment from: bman [Member]

...but at what price? Do you think that just because your morals are greater than theirs that it will somehow magically shield you from those who wish to harm you? When and most importantly where do we draw the line? This new breed of terrorist doesnt care about you, your family, or anything else. You continue holding your morals as a shield, I'll grab some armor and a gun and we'll see who's left when the dust clears.

Mr. Graham's statement, and i quote:

"To distinguish ourselves for them it is essential that we not forget who we are, lest we become just another terrorist ourselves."

Uh, we dont terrorize other nations.. we dont sneakily blow up buildings knowingly with thousands of men, women and children. We simply finish what others start.. and this new breed of terrorism should be no different..REGARDLESS of the cost to our precious morals.

Permalink 07/18/06 @ 22:29

Comment from: Larathiel [Visitor]

I don't see how the original post was saying we shouldn't defend ourselves against our enemies. I was rather under the impression that the matter at hand was what to do with prisoners of war. i.e. Prisoners are no longer viable combatants so unless there's an armed prison break or something, reaching for weapons and armor strikes me as being out-of-context.

It seems to me that the point that is being made is that when fighting people who do barbarous things, don't become a barbarian Yourself lest You lose all sense of purpose. There are also spiritual reasons for not setting aside morality (which can have as big of an effect on morale as on unseen forces) but the original argument can stand on its own without delving into esoteric and metaphysical matters.

Permalink 07/18/06 @ 22:53

Comment from: Roulette [Member]

I have to agree with Lara here. While it's obvious that we must defend ourselves from an enemy that doesn't respect the rules of war, that doesn't mean that we must disregard those rules in our attempts to strike at them.

In fact, I've said repeatedly that such an approach is self defeating for the US from a national standpoint. Every time countries like North Korea and Iran or terrorist groups can point at us and impugn us for not following our own laws or international conventions, we give them exactly what they want. They want us to look fallible because it weakens our position in international politics. Additionally, if they can make one accurate claim, it will result in other statements being believed. Finally, it hurts us because when things like Abu Ghraib occur, the local people are less likely to help us out. Fewer informants, fewer supporters and more distrust.

The rules of law are very important. And even if our enemies disregard those rules, we should not debase ourselves. In the end, it creates more problems than it solves.

Permalink 07/19/06 @ 01:14

Comment from: u235 [Member]

Lara has captured not just the intent but the overall spirit of what I was trying to convey. I'm sorry if I wasn't sufficiently succinct in my writing.

Further, the text in italics is not a quote from Mr.Graham, those are my own attempt at restating what he said. His quote is in the block at the start of the post.

Permalink 07/19/06 @ 13:12

You want descriptions? Get a dictionary. Better go waste time reading the news or play some games on Yahoo or MSN or some shit like that.

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u235

Lindsey Graham.

07/18/06

Lindsey Graham.

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