Related Posts

Torture Bad, Maybe

In case you didn’t hear, President Bush bans torture. Maybe. Yes, maybe. It’s kind of sad that we need to have an explicit ban against torture (again. Hi Geneva Conventions). It’s worse that we’re not sure if it is a ban. Just in case you think the administration might start believing in the rule of law and right, have no fear, unfettered power is still on their agenda. I thought it was scare mongering, then I followed the links. As a Muslim I can be Gitmo’d. As a born American I can have my entire life taken away without any…

Torture is Terror

The passage below is a problem I have been struggling to articulate. From Aziz: What is needed is a generalized principle under which both opposition to terrorism and opposition to torture can be articulated. From a religious perspective, muslims have been arguing (usually defensively) that terrorism (ie, hirabah) goes against Islamic teachings for quite some time – see my own ongoing articles on hirabah here on beliefnet and my earlier hirabah posts. Recently, several muslim organizations issued a joint statement against torture (to which I also signed). Many of the same religious arguments that are made can be applied equally…

The Real Lesson of 9-11

By Gary Kamiya. Sept. 11 is a totemic date for the Bush administration. It justifies everything, explains everything, ends all argument. It is the crime that must be eternally punished, the wound that can never heal, the moral high ground that can never be taken. Bush’s reaction to 9/11 was to declare a “war on terror,” of which the Iraq adventure was said to be the “front line.” The American establishment signed off on this war because of 9/11. To oppose Bush’s “war on terror” was to risk another terror attack and dishonor our dead. The establishment has now turned…