Wednesday, December 21, 2005
Anne Applebaum Nails It
I guess the last 2 paragraphs of her commentary today get directly to what I have been trying to express regarding the President's illegal intelligence gathering:
By the way, did you also see today's article about the judge who quit the FISA Court. James Robertson realized what any smart person in his shoes would come to understand. If the government can secretly gather evidence then how do you know that they are not using this stuff to then go to a FISA judge to obtain a warrant to obtain more information? This defeats the entire purpose of the court. The whole thing is a circular mess.
PermaLink | 4:40 AM |
|
More to the point, I'd argue that the rule-of-law bores, be they Republican libertarians or liberal progressives, actually have a better understanding of what it's going to take to win the war on terrorism in the long run than do those who think tapping and torture without court permission are warranted by extreme circumstances. Like the Cold War, the war on terrorism is not merely a military conflict but a battle of ideas. And just as the Cold War was won when Eastern Europeans abandoned communism and joined the West, the war on terrorism will be over when moderate Muslims have transformed the Arab world -- abandoning the radicals to their tents and their caves -- and joined the global mainstream.No kidding.
Before they get there, they'll probably be subjected to a lot of State Department speeches about why it's important to abandon such practices as arbitrary arrest, torture and secret electronic surveillance. They'll probably be told over and over again why it's important for political leaders to subject themselves to the same laws as their citizens. They'll probably hear lectures about due process, and other rights available to people in civilized societies. But as things are going now -- why on earth should they listen?
By the way, did you also see today's article about the judge who quit the FISA Court. James Robertson realized what any smart person in his shoes would come to understand. If the government can secretly gather evidence then how do you know that they are not using this stuff to then go to a FISA judge to obtain a warrant to obtain more information? This defeats the entire purpose of the court. The whole thing is a circular mess.
PermaLink | 4:40 AM |
| 
