Why Bush is a Failure...and why the GOP is following his lead

From a rare Op-Ed from actual Military Veterans (as opposed to fantasists like the Kagan family)

But it is the duty of the commander in chief to lead the country away from the grip of fear, not into its grasp. Regrettably, at Tuesday night's presidential debate in South Carolina, several Republican candidates revealed a stunning failure to understand this most basic obligation. Indeed, among the candidates, only John McCain demonstrated that he understands the close connection between our security and our values as a nation...

These assertions that "torture works" may reassure a fearful public, but it is a false security. We don't know what's been gained through this fear-driven program. But we do know the consequences.

As has happened with every other nation that has tried to engage in a little bit of torture -- only for the toughest cases, only when nothing else works -- the abuse spread like wildfire, and every captured prisoner became the key to defusing a potential ticking time bomb. Our soldiers in Iraq confront real "ticking time bomb" situations every day, in the form of improvised explosive devices, and any degree of "flexibility" about torture at the top drops down the chain of command like a stone -- the rare exception fast becoming the rule.

To understand the impact this has had on the ground, look at the military's mental health assessment report released earlier this month. The study shows a disturbing level of tolerance for abuse of prisoners in some situations. This underscores what we know as military professionals: Complex situational ethics cannot be applied during the stress of combat. The rules must be firm and absolute; if torture is broached as a possibility, it will become a reality.

Torture is the fantasy land of war lovers, but not war fighters, it is a country run more by sociopaths than by those actually trying to win the war for "hearts and minds". The Bush Administration has long shown itself to be a callow as they come in our nation.

The relativistic arguments of "we're not as bad as 'them'" (whoever the them is) is pointless. It should never be a question. But in the land where "24" is their reality, where we let our leaders appeal to our base instincts rather than the principals we at least pretend to hold dear, this is the shit that happens.