The cocoon of virtuousness
Diana West:
Diana West:
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More than anything else, the emanations of Abu Ghraib have enveloped opponents of the Iraqi war policy in a vacuum-packed morality, a cocoon of virtuousness from which they judge the world as it should be, not the world as it is. In their never-never land, there is never, never cause for mistreatment of any kind. This condition may feel good, particularly as it eliminates the need to weigh the well-being of suspected terrorists against the well-being of unsuspecting victims, and act accordingly. Indeed, there is no need to act, period -- except, that is, on the urge to "feel good about yourself." In pursuit of this essentially selfish experience, terrorism and defeat become interchangeable with security and victory.
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During the trial of Fawaz Damra, an Ohio-based based imam charged with lying to immigration authorities about his terror-network connections, a federal judge told prosecutors not to mention "Osama bin Laden" or "Al Qaeda." Despite evidence linking both Damra and bin Laden to a Muslim-aid group in Brooklyn that the government says later evolved into a branch of Al Qaeda, mum's the legal word. Huh? According to U.S. District Judge James S. Gwin, "the risk of inflaming the jury is great." Prosecutors can't even call Damra, an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center attack (and they can't mention that, either), a "radical Islamic militant." Clearly, the specter of saying the wrong thing looms larger than the importance of seeking the right verdict. Which begs the question: Is this a terrorism trial or a tea party?
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External threats aside, Western civ appears to be threatened from within by a paralyzing attack of terminally good manners: see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil (except Abu Ghraib). This may be one way to ride out the war on Islamic terrorism. It's no way to win it.
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