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Thursday, May 13, 2004


There is no but, part 2
Ah, moral relativism. How I long for easy copouts from difficult issues! I posted a week or so ago about how the torture of Iraqi prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison could not be excused. You know, the "yes, but . . ." construction: "Yes, the abuse and humiliation and battery of the Iraqi detainees was awful . . . but look how badly Saddam treated people in prison. Look what the Iraqis did to those four contractors on March 31, etc etc, etc.

"Yes but" is rearing its ugly head again, this time more despicably in relation to Nick Berg's brutal beheading by al Qaeda terrorists. Now the Boston Globe wallows in profoundly ignorant relativism:

Those quick to assert that the treatment of Berg was far worse than the US treatment of its prisoners miss an essential point.

The United States is now part of a cycle of violence in Iraq that is leading in the wrong direction. The murder and mutilation of four American contract workers in Fallujah were infuriating. Logic might say an attack on Fallujah to root out the wrongdoers was justified. But when that attack kills scores of innocents along with some insurgents, it may generate more hostility and deepen the cycle of violence.
"Yes, the sawing off of Berg's head from his body was awful . . . but look what are doing in Fallujah!"

Has the Globe no sense of decency? Has the Globe no sense of shame? Has the Globe no intelligence at all? Uh, well, I guess not.

And to think that the media get annoyed - offended, even! - when they are accused of media bias!

by Donald Sensing, 5/13/2004 04:09:58 PM. Permalink |  





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