[lit-ideas] Re: Willie Pete


Le 9 nov. 05, à 20:44, Phil Enns a écrit :

Michael Chase wrote:

"... despite Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib, despite the fact that Cheney is
furiously attempting to keep it legal for the CIA to use torture,
despite the fact that the U.S. already ships suspects off to Poland and
Romania, among other locations, so that they can be tortured in all
tranquility...  Surely such smugness is counterproductive."


I didn't detect any smugness.

M.C. It's not hard to find. It consists in saying "we're better than they are".



As Eric so helpfully pointed out, the
litany provided above by M. Chase lists some of the most contentious
issues being vigorously debated in the U.S. whereas they are not even
close to what is done on a regular basis by the terrorists in Iraq.

M.C. I guess "closeness" is in the eye of the beholder. State-sponsored torture seems to me to be awfully "close" in terms or sheer iniquity to the crimes of al-Qaeda. But hey, this is the Cheney era : maybe I'd better just get with the program. Torture is henceforth okay, as long as it's carried out by The Good Guys.


It's a no-brainer as to which side is 'the better'. 

M.C. ZZatafact? See above, on the dangers of smugness.


What is troubling is M. Chase's moral equivalency argument that
regularly rears its ugly head.

M.C. I'm delighted that it's troubling. If it were troubling enough to awaken P. Enns and E. Yoist from the dogmatic slumber of their jingoist self-satisfaction, I'd be even happier.

Best, Mike.



Michael Chase
(goya@xxxxxxxxxxx)
CNRS UPR 76
7, rue Guy Moquet
Villejuif 94801
France


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