Tainted legacy : 9/11 and the ruin of human rights / William F. Schulz.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Schulz, William F.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Human rights.

Terrorism.

Physical Description:

xiv, 242 pages ; 20 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Thunder's Mouth Press/Nation Books, [2003]

Summary:

Have human rights, as we once understood them, become obsolete in the wake of 9/11? Aren't new methods needed to combat the apocalyptic violence of al-Qaeda? Shouldn't some rights be sacrificed to make us all safer? And if we can kill combatants in battle, why shouldn't we torture them if it saves lives? William Schulz's provocative new book examines these and other fundamental questions through the prism of our new consciousness about terrorism. He challenges much of the logic of the Bush Administration's "War on Terror," which has prioritized security at the expense of human rights. He also explores America's ambivalent response historically to human rights, showing how a disregard for human rights has damaged the U.S. both at home and abroad. And yet Schulz also confronts some in the human rights community who have blithely dismissed the need to reexamine our thinking about rights and liberties in the face of terrorism. Respect for human rights, he argues, will ultimately help win the war on terror because it diminishes the appeal of extremism, dries up the pool of terrorist recruits, undermines the claim that the war on terror is really a war on Islam, and offers all nations and peoples a transforming vision -- the universally appealing and inspirational idea of a world without oppression.

Contents:

Part I Ruin

Chapter 1 "Terrorists Are the Fish; the People Are the Sea" The Demystification of Terrorism 15

Chapter 2 "Let Them Hate As Long As They Fear" History and Hubris 35

Chapter 3 The Haunting of America (I): How Countenancing Human Rights Violations Overseas Does Us Damage Here at Home 65

Chapter 4 The Haunting of America (II): How Committing Human Rights Violations Here at Home Does Us Damage Overseas 85

Part II Groundwork

Chapter 5 What Makes Rights "Right"? The Origin of Human Rights and the Challenge of Universality 109

Chapter 6 When Wickedness Is in Fashion: National Sovereignty and International Justice 131

Chapter 7 The Ticklish Case of a Ticking Bomb: Is Torture Ever Justified? 155

Part III Reconstruction

Chapter 8 Striking the Rights Balance: Security, Liberty, and the Challenge of a New World 173

Chapter 9 Sitting on Our Bayonets: The Role of Human Rights in the Struggle Against Terrorism 195.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 213-235) and index.

ISBN:

1560254890

OCLC:

52821317