"Intolerable Cruelty"

In The Nation, David Cole has an excellent article ("Intolerable Cruelty") about the Bush Adminstration's opposition to the McCain Amendment which would comprehensively ban "cruel, inhuman or degrading" interrogation methods (in other words, torture). Recognizing the horrible perception that opposing the Amendment outright would generate, the Administration instead is seeking exclusions for both the CIA and "foreign nationals being held and interrogated abroad" when, of course, it's precisely the CIA's interrogations abroad that the McCain Amendment wants to bring under control.

These tactics ultimately undermine our security, as they impair our legitimacy and create ideal recruiting tools for the enemy. It is simply immoral to claim that we can inflict on other countries' nationals cruel and inhuman treatment that would not be tolerated if it were imposed on our own citizens.

If we are to prevail in the war on terror, we must do so by distinguishing ourselves from our enemy. Terrorism is a moral evil because to achieve its ends it brutally disregards the value of human life. Torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment are evil for the same reason.

Anyone who commits torture in the name of fighting terrorism is no better than the terrorists themselves. Bush clearly disagrees with that notion, pointing once again to the moral corruption of his ideology.