Sneaky French Weasels Talk Sense

In today's lead editorial [translation] in the French daily Le Monde, the editors of this "rabidly anti-American" newspaper fully back Donald Rumsfeld in his expression of disgust at the exploitation of American prisoners of war. They also point out the uncomfortable implications of the American decision to deny Geneva Convention POW status to the detainees at Guantanamo.

What I value about this editorial is that it criticizes an intellectually and morally indefensible policy by the United States while giving full moral support to the American troops being held prisoner. Here in the States, "support our troops" has become code language for "shut up". The Le Monde editorial should remind us that supporting the troops also means not being afraid to honestly criticize policies that put their lives in danger.

A good example to follow for both the French press, which too often resorts to sophistry in its editorials on Iraq, and the American press, which just rolls over and dies.