Excerpt:
Around the globe, America's human-rights policy has visibly softened, subsumed under the all-encompassing banner of the “war against terrorism”. And at home, the Patriot Act, military commissions, Guantánamo and the indefinite detention of American citizens have placed America in the odd position of condoning deep intrusions by law, even while creating zones and persons outside the law.
At this point, you are surely asking: “Why did this happen?” and “What can we do about it?” People living outside America sometimes suggest that the reason is rooted in the American national culture of unilateralism, parochialism and an obsession with power. With respect, let me urge you to see it differently. The Bush doctrine, I believe, is less a broad manifestation of American national character than of short-sighted decisions made by a particularly extreme American administration.
