Destroying the brand

The WSJ has an article on how the Red Cross are using their moral authority as a cudgel to bash the United States -- without regards to the facts, common sense or historical precident.

In this latest case, the ICRC is alleging that the psychological conditions faced by Guantanamo detainees are "tantamount to torture." Why? Because--we kid you not--prisoners are being held for indefinite periods, and the uncertainty is stressful.

Other advocacy groups are following the same pattern. We've also had Amnesty International making formal complaints that handing food to prisoners in Iraq in plastic bags is 'degrading', and the ACLU managing to force the County of Los Angeles to remove a tiny cross from their seal, to name just a few.

The power these groups have is in their status as impartial advocates for just causes. If instead they allow themselves to be frequently associated with reflexive anti-American or anti-Christian attitudes, they're going to find fewer and fewer people willing to listen to them. It might even be too late.

Posted by Bruce Gottfred at December 3, 2004 10:28 AM | TrackBack