Why Morality Is Important

I'm not sure why I read something by Ann Coulter, call it curiosity I guess. I'd never read anything by Ann Coulter...now I realize there probably isn't much use in it. If you feel like figuring that out yourself, here's the article I read.

There's something in there that bothered me a bit more, however. There's a section where Coulter rants:

" But being nice to enemies is an idea that has never worked, no matter how many times liberals make us do it. It didn't work with the Soviet Union, Imperial Japan, Hitler or the North Vietnamese — enemies notable for being more civilized than the Islamic savages we are at war with today."


If Coulter wants to open up the history textbook, I'll be more than happy to do so. First of all, I believe it was a democrat who increased government spending, started social security (in other words, a dirty liberal) who fought back against Japan and Germany. His name was Franklin Delenore Roosevelt. You may have heard of him. Or if you want to bring North Vietnam into this, why don't we talk about the massive bombing campaigns? Was that nice? Was Lyndon "Great Society" Johnson one of those pansy liberals? Would a real man like Reagan or Bush have unleashed the nukes?

How about Coulter looks at a much more appropriate historical example (perhaps outside of World War II, the conservative's wet dream), that of the French in Algeria. Here was a situation in which the French were dealing with a vicious and ruthless independence movement that frequently enganged in terrorism. The French responded in kind, using equally vicious detention and interrogation techniques. The net result was Algerian independence in 1962 and the mass exodus of the pied-noirs (European descent Algerians) to France.

Here's the point...it's easy to make history support your side, but it's also easy to make it contradict your side. And in this instance, it seems that the most appropriate example seems to contradict Coulter's argument. Which is not suprising, as she supports torturing people. In other words, throwing morals out the window in order to win the "War on Terror".

I know one thing however. I do not want to be embarassed by my country. I don't like having to aknowlege that my coutry enslaved people, carried out a near genocide against the Indians, and certain other attrocities. So I would like it if my country would take the moral high ground. Perhaps victory is not depending on it (I doubt more torture will help us...or hurt us, strategically speaking), but the soul of the nation is.