The words might fail me, but they don't fail everyone

I happened across this interview with Eric Haney, a founding member of Delta Force, the military's elite covert counter-terrorist unit. He is now executive producer and technical advisor for The Unit, a new TV drama about the lives of the men who do the impossible for our country. I don't want to over dramatize what these people do, but, like firemen, I have to admire anyone who will walk willingly into grave danger.

Oddly, this was filed under "Entertainment", but his words have the iron ring of truth to them. As I said: the words might fail me, sometimes, but fortunately some of us actually get it.

"... our credibility is utterly zero. So we destroyed whatever credibility we had. ... And I say "we," because the American public went along with this. They voted for a second Bush administration out of fear, so fear is what they're going to have from now on."

"... who would you want to pay to be a torturer? Do you want someone that the American public pays to torture? He's an employee of yours. It's worse than ridiculous. It's criminal; it's utterly criminal. ... Mistreatment of helpless people in your power is torture, period. And (I'm saying this as) a man who has been involved in the most pointed of our activities. I know it, and all of my mates know it. You don't do it. It's an act of cowardice. I hear apologists for torture say, "Well, they do it to us." Which is a ludicrous argument. ... The Saddam Husseins of the world are not our teachers. Christ almighty, we wrote a Constitution saying what's legal and what we believed in. Now we're going to throw it away.

This last passage echoes my sentiments quite strongly. We absolutely must keep the moral high ground, or we are no better that the terrorists. Once we are willing to stoop to the tactics of our enemies, we become our enemies. Worse, we become what our enemies make us out to be.

Mr. Haney is openly critical of the current adminstration, and I am right there with him. I believe there are grounds for impeachment on the warrantless wiretapping issue, alone, but still I did not feel that this post should be a rant against the administation. There are larger, much more important issues being debated, here. My purpose is to inform others, and to lend my opinion to those in power that they stop debasing and defiling the things this country was founded on, and still stands for.

America isn't just for Americans. Initially, we were all from somewhere else, and it was only the ideas that united us. Believe me, it's the ideas today that are the most important "exports" that America has to offer. That is, unless we convince everyone that it was all just bullshiat.