“Our most formidable weapon is not our military strength, but rather our democratic ideals… It therefore seems oxymoronic that we would embrace a strategy that requires that we toss aside that strength in order to engage in a conflict on the terms we claim to abhor from our perceived enemies.”
—Byron Williams, “What is the Real Strength of the United States”

This argument centers around the basic question of whether our legacy is that of our democratic ideals and sense of justice, or if we will follow the trajectory of all empires. These arguments seem more powerful to me because they are couched in moral terms, not just practical ones.

“Ensuring torture is totally banned under American law is a touchstone issue that defines our very civilization, to include its continued embrace of Englightenment values, a belief in progress in the face of adversity, and ensuring that our most odious enemies are not successful in having us sully our human rights leadership, one so hard earned through the Cold War.”
—Greg Djerejian, Neoconservative, “Has Waterboarding been banned?”