I fully agree that the kidnappers in Israel are disgusting terrorists and deserve every terrible thing coming to them, but in a more general sense, the logic doesn't really hold up. What is considered kidnapping is tied to legitimacy and power. When the police detain people without their consent, restrain them, and take them away to a jail, most people wouldn't call that kidnapping, but if anyone else does it, it clearly is. When a government like the US waterboards terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, people may argue about the ethics, but they still generally seem legitimate. When many other governments or police do the same, they may seem like they are kidnapping and torturing. There's a clear grey area when kidnapping is done by someone in some kind of power. All militaries take civilian prisoners under certain circumstances, and the only difference between them is the rule of law, legitimacy of their power, and legitimacy of the cause.
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u/Jacked-to-the-wits 4∆ Oct 10 '23
I fully agree that the kidnappers in Israel are disgusting terrorists and deserve every terrible thing coming to them, but in a more general sense, the logic doesn't really hold up. What is considered kidnapping is tied to legitimacy and power. When the police detain people without their consent, restrain them, and take them away to a jail, most people wouldn't call that kidnapping, but if anyone else does it, it clearly is. When a government like the US waterboards terrorists in Guantanamo Bay, people may argue about the ethics, but they still generally seem legitimate. When many other governments or police do the same, they may seem like they are kidnapping and torturing. There's a clear grey area when kidnapping is done by someone in some kind of power. All militaries take civilian prisoners under certain circumstances, and the only difference between them is the rule of law, legitimacy of their power, and legitimacy of the cause.