War on Terrorism: Handling the Prisoners

And What Makes Us the Good Guys

There has been a lot of criticism lately about the treatment of terrorist prisoners in the Middle East, who have been (in a very few but highly publicized cases) subjected to numerous forms of torment and humiliation, ranging from being deprived of sleep and bathroom privileges to being forced to listen to Christina Aguilera (heavens, no!). Many believe that interrogators have gone too far in trying to get information.

Some from the right believe that it's perfectly OK to humiliate terrorists, especially if we can elicit information that will save precious lives. Besides, they're terrorists. They don't care about the classic Geneva rules and all that honorable war junk. Basically, they argue, terrorists don't deserve to be treated humanely, because they're hardly human. Some from the left, on the other hand, don't think it's right to treat any prisoners inhumanely, and that we need to honor the rules of the Geneva convention, and they also somehow find a way to link this mistreatment as the president's fault.

So, who's correct?

When it comes to terrorists, the good guys are always at a disadvantage. Why? Because of what defines them as good guys: they treat all human life as valuable. Terrorists don't, and that's what makes them bad guys. For example, they use civilians as shields. The good guys don't do that. That's why they're the good guys. Yes, it makes things harder for them, but if they didn't do it that way, they wouldn't be the good guys.

This kind of logic carries into the treatment of prisoners. No, these terrorists don't care about human life at all. Forcing them to listen to Christian Aguilera isn't even close to being a good enough punishment for them. But that doesn't mean we can treat them as less-than-human. Because we're the good guys.

The view of the radical right is very enticing---that terrorists are nasty, evil people who can't even be called humans. But we still have to treat them correctly. If we start saying that terrorists are less than human, if we start saying that their lives have less value than other humans, then we're starting to take away the very thing that makes us the good guys. If we treat terrorists inhumanely, then we're starting to become terrorists ourselves.

Since we're the good guys, we have to treat our prisoners with respect. Even if they're terrorists. Even if it makes things harder for us. Because we're the good guys.

Edmond the Hun