Backlash

Discussing an opinion published in Le Figaro which this blog has recently translated a message board and two blogs are running into some difficulties peddling the usual line.

Quite naturally, it’s about Gitmo, and the opportunity for francophone bloggers have to parade their moral vanity.

America, what kind of monster have you become?

Using any and every report or ginned-up event that they can, such as “combating terror only creates more terror”, and any other convenience, Americans, no matter who they are, are the indiscriminate target of their pointless verbal hectoring.

The arguments like that of Mr. Roucaute are deeply intellectual dishonest, consisting in changing the debate to avoid the real problem (Guantanamo) by pointing to another odious situations. To claim that all those which criticize the illegal prison run by the USA close their eyes to the violation of human rights in Cuba, it is absurd and insulting.

Except that HRW and Amnesty were not the subject he was addressing as much as a public which is more than willing to close their eyes. The length people will go to - to ignore the severe opression of the Cubans in order to lecture their imagined America was precisely Roucaute's point. Ones the bloggers were willing to ignore, but the commenters understood.

But even in their comments there are more rumblings against the assertion than for it. People seem to get it:

Let’s be clear, Guantanamo bothers me, but it’s low on the list of things I hate.

Three suicides with Gitmo, and is it an outrage, “America, what kid of monster have you become!”In France, a prisoner commits suicide on average every three days. 2006 seem to be a mild year (world cup effect), with 23 suicides or suspicious deaths. 23. Since [the prison camp at] Gitmo opened in 2002, there were 41 attempts by 23 prisoners, out of which the three succeeded.

Three suicides in four years, and most of America shouts scandal. 23 suicides in 6 months in France, and everyone looks dimly at each other. No, the United States did not become a monster. The monster, is us, here, now.

Quite simply what the guys countering the active opposition to terrorism don’t understand is that the current Jihad has been around for decades, and they have chose to attack Europe and the US more directly. The suicides are not the issue. They don't even make much of a stick to beat the coalition with, but some flea will crawl out and try anyway. Say anything, do anything...

Ignoring Jihad will not make it go away, but causing the targeted populations to incrementally accommodate that concept until it’s ubiquitous. If it comes to that point, the public can permanently kiss their personal freedoms goodbye. What is most evident is the lack of perspective of the consequences of the 'peace' camp's detachment from this.

Rumsfeld said today about Iraq "This is a sovereign country, and they are making impressive progress". Yep, their use of the AK47, hand grenades and road mines improve every day.

With verisimilitudinous attention to detail like that, you can depend on these guys to do a great job interpreting the Geneva Convention, the laws of war, and such.

Jacques Attali, former "special advisor" (hear "sherpa") to french president Mitterrand tells this story about George Bush (the father) inviting Mitterrand and his team in his family house in New England ; Attali spent the night in George Walker Bush's personal bedroom, and he was told him nothing was removed or even moved because of his presence. So he took a look at George W. Bush's books, and was amazed to see only a few comics and detective stories, nothing else...

Hum. How surprising.

So they reach the point of invention. Say anything, do anything. Here's a little test:



Can they judge this for right and wrong? If they can’t, our lefty blogging paesanos should be obliged to join in, right? It is about peace. How can they objectively choose to walk away from THAT important goal?
Hm. I thought so.

In other words, there are shades of grey. It is often necessary to take up the lesser evil. And there are things people will and won’t do. Some things can’t change without lives being put at risk, but judging by the evident risk to pluralistic societies, global Jihad evil is clearly the greater evil.

No amount of stamping their feet and shaking their little fists can convince anyone reasonable otherwise which their commentators have shown. Backslash backlash.