US Army Major General William L. Nash (Ret) said if Obama reversed Attorney General Eric Holder, whose decision it was to try Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in federal court, it "would give aid to our enemies, it would lessen our reputation with our allies who have been extremely happy with the reverse course that we've taken. This is not the time to be scared," Nash said, "This is not the time to accommodate those who have led this country under an aura of fear for eight years. And it's time to do the right thing and persevere through."
I liked that, "This is not the time to be scared."
General Nash wasn't appealing to the Obama Administration; he was appealing to the American people not to demand a politically expedient solution through fear. He was appealing to Americans to stand courageously for our values.
Remember why the United States has long adhered to the restrictions on torture and secret trials and imprisonment without charges, juries, judges or evidence; not because there exists an international body that enforces that restraint, but because these "international laws" embody the agreed-upon principles of acceptable behavior by reasonable and rational nations and because the United States (traditionally) hasn't set standards for the behavior of other nations that it won't, itself, adhere to. To do so is obviously hypocritical.
The United States signed and honored the Geneva Conventions so that we can reasonably expect other nations to do the same, and even take punitive action when they refuse. Now the US has abdicated that right, and that moral high ground; essentially handing the enemy its greatest victory ... the weakening of American character and credibility, something our enemies could not hope to achieve by any other means.
Those people who tell us that we are being unrealistic to believe we should abide by international laws are really working to weaken the nation morally. When they say we can no longer afford to maintain our values; they are really saying that we are weakened by them.
They want us to believe that we are weakened by a legal system that extends rights to prisoners that they would not extend to our own soldiers and citizens.
That is wrong. We are not weakened by our values. We are strengthened by them. Always.
We are weakened by those who urge us to abandon principle. They are tempting us to share their weakness. Just say "no."