If you have not yet seen the film Slumdog Millionaire, do yourself a favor and do so. It ranks as one of the top five movies I’ve seen in the last few years. This Golden Globe Best Film award winner has it all. Acting, story, cinematography as well as an amazing soundtrack are all first rate.

Great film!

Is torture a legitimate means of extracting information from suspected terrorists as U.S. intelligence officers have been doing at Guantanamo with suspected Islamic terrorists?

My gut reaction is that it is wrong.  Civilized societies should not resort to the same tactics used by terrorists and murderers.  Furthermore, there is much testimony from experts that torture does not work.  The claim is that the information extracted through torture is not reliable in that a victim of torture will state anything to stop the pain.  Secretary of Defence Robert Gates as well as Senator John McCain have both shown strong opposition to the U.S. use of torture.

Once we condone torture, then what moral authority to we have in condemning our enemies for doing the same?

And then the pragmatic me is reminded of the ticking bomb scenario.  If you knew with certainty that a ticking bomb would soon go off which would kill thousands…and…if you also knew with certainty that the man who knew its location was seated in front of you, would you use any means possible to extract the information required to save those many lives?

I am tempted to say yes.  Of course the key in the above stated scenario is the word certainty.  But if the lives of thousands are at stake, is 72% certainty enough to do what we must?  Maybe it is.

Tough one.

Hillary Rodham Clinton

The Senate confirmation hearings to appoint Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State begin today. It appears that her confirmation will be a smooth affair in that Clinton is held in high respect by both Democrats and Republicans. There are few if any who would discount Mrs. Clinton’s intelligence and experience as well as the considerable insight she has shown in matters of foreign policy.

What I find most refreshing is her determination to implement what is referred to as smart power as an approach to dealing with the rest of the world. Smart power will move away from the Bush administration’s emphasis on the military as the first answer in many areas of foreign policy. Instead, Mrs. Clinton’s intent is to restore diplomacy as the primary approach in dealing with the the big issues facing not only the U.S. but the entire world. In her words,

“We must use what has been called `smart power,’ the full range of tools at our disposal. With `smart power,’ diplomacy will be the vanguard of foreign policy.”

In restoring U.S. respect and leadership which has been severely damaged over the last eight years, Clinton will seek true partnerships with other nations in dealing with the world’s big issues – terrorism, climate change, the Middle East conflict, Iran, nuclear non-proliferation and the implosion of Pakistan, to name a few.

“America cannot solve the most pressing problems on our own, and the world cannot solve them without America,” she said. “I believe American leadership has been wanting, but is still wanted.”

January 20 cannot come soon enough.

President Bush disagrees that America’s moral standing in the world has been damaged under his tenure in the White House. Is this guy delusional or what? Why does he think the entire world rejoiced at the victory of Barack Obama in the presidential elections? It was as much for the hope and inspiration that Obama represents as it was for the fact that Bush will no longer be around.

Has the United States moral standing suffered under Bush? Absolutely. Iraq, Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib are but three of the reasons that the world’s view of the United States suffered under Bush. Bush’s failure to acknowledge this fact is but more evidence that he operates with blinders on.

I could think of no better sendoff for President Bush than the shoe throwing incident in Iraq last December.  As a pundit remarked at the time, the image of President Bush ducking a shoe thrown at him by an Iraqi journalist is the period at the end of the Bush legacy.

I by no means condone violence of any sort but, c’mon, if anyone ever deserved a shoe being directed at them, it’s Bush.  The invasion and occupation of Iraq will be marked as the biggest blunder and catastrophe of Bush’s reign of ineptness.

It sickens me to hear Bushies crying foul at the incident stating that it insults the United States.  What?  The thrown shoe was meant to be a message not for a country but for a single man – the current President.  The President who began a needless war which is responsible for the death of over 4500 Coalition soldiers, 4200 of them American,  and that of 100,000 innocent Iraqi civilians.  And someone’s complaining about a shoe being thrown at this guy?  I don’t think so.