Never an easy answer

What are the rules?

Someone asked me the other day what my thoughts were on ‘secret prisons’ and the like. This, of course, would encompass creative ways of getting folks to chat with you about things of mutual interest. These seem to include hoods and odd usages of car batteries.

Back in the early 80’s the America Cancer Society had an ad that featured a Peter Max - type of painting complete with pleasant music. It depicted the almost unrealistic view of people about cancer and things were not at all well in Nirvana.

It always struck me as a brilliant ad and has always stayed with me for some reason.
This also seems to apply to the question my friend asked me.

There is no doubt that we view ourselves as a nation in pretty high regard assuming we always follow the rules. Any breaking of such rules generally brings a collective look of shock and disbelief. We would never stoop to anything which would even begin to resemble a source of questionable nature...not us.

Here is my somewhat twisted view of things…

We are currently fighting two wars. The War in Iraq is a war with tanks, planes and soldiers, lots of them. We are going after insurgents with Bradley fighting vehicles and they are coming at us with a cement mixer filled with explosives plus men and women wrapped tighter than a leftover tuna salad sandwich with explosives.

In his book, on reinventing yourself, Tom Peters discusses these facts and points out we need to “change how we view modern combat.”

I always think of it as a bunch of Redcoats lined up in a nice formation so the Revolutionary Army could have a nice clean headshot. What worked for you in the past simply doesn’t apply anymore. Time for a reality check.

The other War is against terrorists who have a huge, hard-on against the US and other Western countries. Much as the folks in the White House want me to believe they are one in the same, I just can’t see it.

Now on to torture and other weird parlor games.

To make matters worse, we seem to have differing statements. I would use the term opinions; but, that seems a tad optimistic at best.

Cheney thinks we should be allowed to torture, it worked at Halliburton. Why not give it a good ‘shot’ here? George W and Condi Rice also have thoughts on this, but what is the old saying, “If this is Belgium, it must be Tuesday.”

When you are looking at the face of terror and that face comes minus any sense of rules and so on, where do you draw the line?

Do I think the CIA and such should follow a strict sense of rules and always put that first? Do I think they put human rights above getting the information they need to accomplish their objectives?

I want to say ‘Yes’ here; but, instead will say, when you are dealing with nutcases following rules doesn’t always work.

At best, I am, at times a liberal conservative. I tend to believe that we should follow the rules as set forth by the ‘other side.’ The ‘other side’ of course has Allah on their side; and, this seems to give credence to having people walk into weddings and blow the shit out of themselves and others.

Somehow, I suspect Allah would not be in favor of this ‘three-ring circus.’

I think of my folks who woke up one morning to the presence of German Soldiers in their small Dutch town. It was against the rules, but no one told Hitler.

I think of my Mother-in-Law who watched the invasion of her village in the south of China by the Japanese. Once again, not so much for the rules…

Think of it as a major turnaround at a refinery, all the rules and so on apply till the work starts.