Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Where I Stand:

Our nation’s role in striving for goodwill toward all men

I wanted to write about my friend Art Marshall, a significant player in the Las Vegas community and an essential ingredient in the history of the Jewish people in Israel and in the United States, who got married last week in what I would describe as a November/August romance. He deserves many more years of happiness for all the years of unheralded service he has given to citizens of this state, which has been his home for six decades.

I also wanted to congratulate my dear friends Cari Marshall and Todd Marshall, who, just like their father, Art, and late mother, Jayn, were honored for their lifelong commitment to the Anti-Defamation League and the principles of fair and equal treatment for all people, regardless of ethnicity, religion, skin color or any other way in which one group may try to oppress another.

I also wanted to single out my friends at Barrick Gold Corp. (full disclosure, I am on the board of directors) for being honored for their commitment to the principles of the Anti-Defamation League as well as their announcement last week that they are moving their information technology departments from their home base in Toronto to their new U.S. home in Southern Nevada. Those are high-paying jobs that confirm a Barrick vision about the technology growth that is happening in our valley.

Yes, I wanted to write a Christmastime column about good people doing good things in our community. People who are striving for peace on Earth and goodwill toward all men.

And then the U.S. government released the findings of a significant investigation into the interrogation techniques employed by America in its war against terrorism.

And then, an old war began anew.

It is common and irrefutable knowledge that the United States is practically the only country on Earth (with a few notable exceptions) that plays by the rules, especially when compared with those countries or the terrorist groups they support who have made it clear that the United States and its friends around the globe are targeted for destruction. None of those people ever heard of or even care about things such as the Geneva Conventions or even the limits of human decency.

They define war as hell, and in hell anything goes.

Except in the United States. We consider ourselves not only better actors than the bad guys, but also the country that has to walk the walk if we are going to talk to others about the high road of morality.

So when words such as waterboarding and pictures such as those from Abu Ghraib are leaked to the world in an effort to embarrass the United States or hold it to the higher standard we profess to have, we convulse within.

The result is a report that has people on all sides of the political divide both condemning our country and praising it for its openness.

I haven’t read the report, but from what I have read and heard, it appears two things are pretty clear. What we think of as torture more often than not doesn’t work because, as Sen. John McCain has so consistently and adamantly stated, there is no real evidence that torture produces credible information. And, secondly, what the United States did in the aftermath of 9/11 to set up secret jails and star chamber protocols, and justify them through some tortured legal writing, was not the way we portray ourselves to the rest of the world or even, for that matter, to ourselves.

Do I, like so many others, wish that report had not been made public? Of course. Would I rather be assured that those responsible for the health and security of our country would read the report and correct what went wrong? Of course. Am I thrilled that since 9/11 and regardless of the reasons therefor, there haven’t been any similar attacks on our country? You bet I am. Do I like the idea that this report makes so many good and decent Americans who thought they were acting properly look like bad people and not the patriots they believed they were? No way.

But, in the end, do I have a problem with the public nature of the report and the use to which it will be put inflaming the inflammable? Not really.

The fact of the matter is that terrorist groups who don’t play by any civilized rules, who would just as soon behead innocent Americans and our allies for the sake of making the point that they are ruthless, immoral killers already know what it is we have done in the name of keeping our people safe. It hasn’t made them act any worse because worse is how they act all the time.

What does bother me, though, is this entire mess the United States has gotten itself twisted up in since 9/11. We fought the wrong war in Iraq and neglected the right and just war in Afghanistan. The result of that misguided effort was to sour Americans on the idea of any war. That was what the 2008 election was all about.

So, we elected a man who promised to bring the troops home and practically promised not to get mired in the Middle East ever again. And now the Islamic State, a terrorist group completely devoid of morality that has the destruction of the West and its friends as its No. 1, No. 2 and No. 3 priorities, is trying to establish itself as the caliphate the terrorists have always dreamed about. Even to the most naive American paying attention to what the Islamic State is doing in the name of something only it can believe is holy, it is clear that these terrorists need to be stopped dead in their tracks.

And now that we are at a point where American, and only American, leadership is essential — our president is trying his best to keep the wrong promise.

I don’t think it is all his fault. Just like I don’t think the people who thought they should torture the bad guys at black sites so they could protect the homeland were all wrong either.

Yes, torture is wrong and should not be tolerated. And, yes, wars of necessity are very different from wars of choice. But in either case, the people of this country need to understand the difference before they jump willy-nilly on the condemnation bandwagon just because they can.

I believe one of the reasons so many Americans believe we are heading down the wrong track is because we hate being the folks who believe we have to torture others to save ourselves. We hate seeing our friends and countrymen beheaded by a bunch of thugs and hate the fact that our reaction to those ugly pictures is that we want to kill those dastards, no matter what the cost. But, we also hate the idea of sending our brave men and women to war again so soon after the last one got so mucked up.

And, if I am correct, you don’t need another reason to understand why we, as a people, want the report public that says we did wrong while, at the same time, we want the report buried so that we can continue doing what we believe is necessary to protect us at home.

If you are getting confused right about now, that is my purpose. Nothing is simple and nothing in today’s world is easy. But amid the confusion, a little moral clarity doesn’t hurt. That is what the report provides.

I would have preferred to write a Christmas column about my dear friend Art, his family and the good deeds of others who try to make our world better.

Perhaps I did that anyway. Because if we can understand the problems our own contradictions create, we might be able to move a step closer to peace on Earth. That is the reflection this time of year demands of us.

When it comes to showing goodwill toward men, the United States has always been the leader. We need to lead again. No matter how confusing the task at hand is.

Brian Greenspun is owner, publisher and editor of the Las Vegas Sun.

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