That's Comforting

Manifesto

CIA Director Porter Goss gave a far-ranging interview about the "war on terror." It was the typical line, we don't torture, etc. But I found this quote both particularly interesting and ridiculous:

“We’re fighting a war on terror,” he said in response to a question about the prisons. “We’re doing quite well. Inevitably, we’re going to have to capture some terrorists and inevitably they’re going to have to have some due process. It’s going to be done lawfully.”

First, I like the way the quote implies that we are not capturing terrorists now. It also has a hint that of implication that we are a bunch of idiots but, inevitably, we are going to "capture some terrorists." Hell, we have to eventually. Even the sun shines on a dog's ass somedays.

While that may be a misstatement, the second use of "inevitably" is a little more troubling. "Inevitably they are going to have to have due process." That's the way we are conducting this war. I understand that non-Americans don't get all the benefits of the Constitution, but come on. Doesn't this imply a complete disdain for American prinicples and values. (Yes, I know this isn't the first time.) We fight the war for "freedom" but we continually conduct ourselves in ways that are completely contrary to our values and principles. While we constantly hear about examples of this reality, I don't think we really hear the disdain actually expressed that often, as I think we do here.

P.S. - I had been sitting on this post for a while. In the meantime, Don Rumsfeld completely outdid this pithy little quote. Check out Daily Kos to see what I'm talking about. I wish I had some outrage left.