Our treatment of terrorists

Remember Abu Ghraib? How about the tales of abuse at Guantanamo Bay? Maybe you've heard the statements by the likes of Ted Kennedy, Dick Durbin, and Nancy Pelosi? According to these notables, our treatment of detainees is a taint on our reputation, and is reminiscent of the Soviet Gulag or Pol Pot's killing fields. Kennedy claims that the only thing that's changed at Abu Ghraib is that it's now under new management.

Congressman Tom Tancredo states that in the wake of a terrorist nuclear strike on US cities, bombing Mecca would not be out of the question. People on all sides of the poliitical spectrum erupt in outrage.

To be sure, a nuclear strike on a Muslim holy site would almost certainly be counter-productive. However, if one of our major cities were vaporized, I suspect our leaders would be very hard pressed to do anything but launch a strike. Public pressure to "do something" would be very strong.

Nor is this my idea alone.

Regardless of how we feel now about the treatment of terrorists, and suspected terrorists, I can envision a day when Americans will care less about interrogation techniques used in the quest to get intelligence about terrorists. That day will be when there's a chemical or biological attack in one of our cities that kills and injures tens of thousands of Americans.

...snip...

If there's a biological or chemical terrorist attack, killing and wounding tens of thousands of Americans, how much would you care about "our reputation and how we are viewed in the Muslim world"?

And indeed, if the worst happens, the citizens of the US may decide they're tired of all this hand-wringing over what the Arab Street thinks. They may decide it's time the world started wringing its hands over what the American Street thinks.

Bad idea? Bad policy? I suspect it is. But when patience runs out, don't count on rational behavior.

And a word to the Islamic community:

There's an important terrorism issue for Muslim communities, especially those residing in Western countries. They should be concerned about backlash and retaliation against Muslims in the wake of a large-scale disaster. Muslims must in no uncertain terms make it clear, as have spokesmen for the Free Muslim Coalition (www.freemuslims.org), that the terrorists do not speak for them, and they must report terrorists within their communities.

And Muslims can't hide behind assertions that the media is biased against them. They need to do what it takes to make their voices heard in spite of the obstacles.

Frankly, the Muslim community has demonstrated that it can make its voice heard. If a news magazine reports that someone may have carried a copy of the Koran over a spot where a black cat once crossed, riots break out and people are killed. Muslims know how to get attention for their views.

To all those Muslims who object to terrorism done in the name of their religion and their god, I say they need to make their voices heard. Otherwise, why should anyone assume they exist?