C.I.A. Destroyed Tapes of Interrogations
A Links entry from Thursday, December 6, 2007C.I.A. Destroyed Tapes of Interrogations
The New York Times:
The Central Intelligence Agency in 2005 destroyed at least two videotapes documenting the interrogation of two Al Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody, a step it took in the midst of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the C.I.A’s secret detention program, according to current and former government officials.
Just so you know we still live in a democracy.
Jason
I don’t understand how the destruction of these two tapes (while not a good thing, obviously) is some fundamental weakening of our “democracy”. The fact of the matter is, democracy does not equal full transparency.
In using arguments made by Thomas Meyer and Anthony Appiah (in relation to the ethics of differing “civilizations”)the ethics of liberalism and cosmopolitanism (wholly different than that of a cosmopolitan…more similar to Sartre’s “open mind”)should conceivably extend to all cultures and ideologies within the liberal civilization, insofar as the cultures and peoples encompassed within them ALSO subscribe to the notions of tolerance and autonomy (the basic tenants of liberalism). In that sense, we are under no obligation to extend the same principles of “democracy” and “liberalism” to supposed terrorists (though it would behoove us to do so). That being said, as these videos are a facet of such interactions with inherently intolerable people, we are under no obligation to keep them.
I’m playing devil’s advocate in a sense though, as I still wish those tapes hadn’t been destroyed. I’m basically just disagreeing with you’re point about “us still living in a democracy”.
Bryan Klausmeyer
The destruction of the tapes does not constitute the “weakening” of democracy, the mistake is your deployment of the gerund in forming the present participle. Rather, the destruction of the tapes demonstrates to the contrary that democracy itself was always already weakened, and this act simply reveals one more way in which this is true. Because the C.I.A. does not answer to the people (and to a large extent not even indirectly) it can’t be considered democratic in any sense.
This distinction between liberalism and democracy seems irrelevant to my point. Same with terrorism.
Bryan Klausmeyer
Basically: “democracy” does not translate into “democracy” as such (the difference is found in the gap between “democracy” as Master-Signifier and ontic “democracy.”)
Bryan Klausmeyer
bryklaus@umich.edu
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