Ah, Torture--It's a Growth Industry, So Don't Get Left Behind!

From the New York Times today,

The State Department on Monday detailed an array of human rights abuses last year by the Iraqi government, including torture, rape and illegal detentions by police officers and functionaries of the interim administration that took power in June.

Now, this would seem abhorrent if it wasn't for the revelation it gave me about the Bush plan for Iraq. You see, when he talks about "our values," and bringing Iraq along, it would appear to the casual viewer that he means to eliminate torture, rape, murder, unlawful detention, and so on from Iraq. The reality is, however, that he seeks to lower the United States to the standards of Saddam Hussein and company, by which means we will be aligned as promised.

It must make Tortureboy feel like a proud daddy! Look, he must be saying, they've done all this since June! Pretty soon they'll be as good as our pals in Egypt, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

The State Department report also says the Iraqis "generally respected human rights," as if this is pretty good. "Generally respecting" human rights is like "generally respecting," oh, let's say, property rights. I only rob selected houses. Or "generally respecting" prohibitions on murder. I only killed those five people; look at all the ones I left alone.

None other than National Review Online editor Jonah "White Feather" Goldberg illustrates how this aligns with right-wing philosophy, in a piece in Salon.com.

"To be brutally honest, I'm torn about it. I don't mean to be callous about it: I think the U.S. government should do everything it can to see to it that innocent people don't get treated horribly. I don't know anybody on the right who would say, 'I'm in favor of innocent people being tortured.' But that said, I think a lot of people on the right are skeptical of hype: That the allegations are not nearly as horrendous or as widespread a matter of policy as the media portrays."

Notice the rhetorical construct here: he essentially says that the reports of torture by the U.S. or its proxies are "allegations." Then he says that the allegations, even if true, are overdrawn. "Naw, we didn't cut all the dude's fingers off--just eight of 'em." Therefore, because they may not be true, and even if they are true, they're not accurate, then we can just ignore the whole business as the necessity of war.

"There are lots of things that are ugly and terrible about war," Goldberg adds. "I think that people on the right are more comfortable allowing for that."

No shit. Too comfortable, if you ask me, and that should be the outrage.
There is no compromise on respecting human rights, if we claim to be a civilized people. That's all there is to it, war or no war.
And remember, this is a bullshit war.