I Take Issue
Welcome to the first of an I-have-no-idea-how-many-part series of posts in which I "take issue" with a current political or social situation. Tonight, John Roberts was standing in for a sadly absent Anderson Cooper on Cooper's show 360. It has come to the attention of mainstream media outlets lately that the CIA has "secret prisons" or "detention centers" in which it has held terror suspects.
I take issue with how quickly the media jump to condemn intelligence operations. Of course there is the possibility that the CIA is abusing its authority or right to hold persons in detention centers, but to automatically assume that that is what is going on, and that it is inherently wrong for these CIA locations to exist, is terrible judgment. In fact, it's no judgment at all.
It's quite possible, and in fact probable, that the CIA has obtained people who have given them reason to believe that they may be involved in potentially extremely serious plans against the United States. It's also possible that the CIA is using force to try to get information from these folks.
In other words, the fact that the CIA has "secret prisons" doesn't mean anything. It doesn't provide us with irrefutable evidence that the CIA is inherently evil or plotting against US citizens. It is small minded to assume so. Is it possible that the CIA knows certain individuals to have already done extremely cruel/damaging things to others, and aren't afraid to use force to get info from them? Of course.
I don't appreciate this knee-jerk reaction from mainstream media. It makes them look bad, in fact, it makes our entire country look bad, since CNN is broadcast the world over, and what hairdressers see in Ethiopia on the TV is all they know of the US.
No wonder we're so unpopular.
I take issue with how quickly the media jump to condemn intelligence operations. Of course there is the possibility that the CIA is abusing its authority or right to hold persons in detention centers, but to automatically assume that that is what is going on, and that it is inherently wrong for these CIA locations to exist, is terrible judgment. In fact, it's no judgment at all.
It's quite possible, and in fact probable, that the CIA has obtained people who have given them reason to believe that they may be involved in potentially extremely serious plans against the United States. It's also possible that the CIA is using force to try to get information from these folks.
In other words, the fact that the CIA has "secret prisons" doesn't mean anything. It doesn't provide us with irrefutable evidence that the CIA is inherently evil or plotting against US citizens. It is small minded to assume so. Is it possible that the CIA knows certain individuals to have already done extremely cruel/damaging things to others, and aren't afraid to use force to get info from them? Of course.
I don't appreciate this knee-jerk reaction from mainstream media. It makes them look bad, in fact, it makes our entire country look bad, since CNN is broadcast the world over, and what hairdressers see in Ethiopia on the TV is all they know of the US.
No wonder we're so unpopular.
Comments