Saturday, December 30, 2006
Another Stupid Precedent
I'm now more convinced than ever that this Administration has either no idea what they're doing, or is arrogant beyond belief.
First, by openly using torture as an interrogation technique, they have forever given the nod to the rest of the world that, "Hey, it's okay to torture Americans in custody, because we do it to whomever we want to."
And, with tonight's little necktie party, and the political assassination of Saddam Hussein, this Administration has, unfortunately, (or not) opened their own necks for the rope. Their big mistake was this: if Saddam was so evil, then they should have had him tried for everything before imposing any sentence at all. After all, any one of the next dozen untried charges would have been far greater war crimes. Instead, because it was more convenient to shut him up so that he wouldn't be able to call his good buddy Donald Rumsfeld as a defense witness, the bar on "War Crimes" has actually been lowered. So, Saddam Hussein waltzed with the hangman for gassing 148 Kurds.
And, by that criteria, every member of this Administration is at least twenty times the war Criminal Hussein was -- and that's only counting American war dead. And in "collateral damage", and if numbers of dead are the sole criteria for a hangin'... forget it. Hussein was an amateur.
And, well, The Hague better be preparing their Tribunal and Scaffold now.
No one outside of the mainstream media harbors the illusion that Saddam was killed by Iraqis. Nope. That was good ol' American hemp tied around his neck. No American witnesses to the execution? Right. Want to buy a bridge? I'm sure that half the witnesses were CIA employees of Iraqi extraction -- technically, not Americans, but American by sworn loyalty.
The only real concession to local control was rushing the execution so that it would happen before a Muslim holy day, but -- a) Muslim days begin at sunset, so it was already too late, and b) the holy day in question commemorates Abraham's willingness to kill his son, Isaac. There's a metric arseload of symbolism right there -- and the Abraham and Isaac story is one of those things that makes non-believers stop and say, "Um... god wanted what?"
Anyway... if this Administration had any shred of honesty in them, Saddam would have been tried in the World Court, openly; he would have been tried on all charges brought against him before sentence was given for any crime. He would have been allowed to call any witnesses necessary, subpoena any documents required. In short, he would have been given the same considerations shown in the past to Eichman, Tojo, and every other War Criminal put in the dock.
After all, if he were so guilty, no reason to suppress anything, no worry that he wouldn't have been found guilty, right?
And don't get me wrong -- I do believe the bastard deserved to swing, or better yet, to be dropped feet first into a wood-chipper. However, not before the world got to see every accusation against him, got to hear all the evidence, got to hear every defense.
Because, ultimately, half of his defense would have indicted too many people currently in power in this country. And we can't have that happen, can we?
Future generations will note this day as a time when America truly lost its way, and abandoned every ideal upon which it was founded, for the simple sake of covering up the high crimes and misdemeanors of the current ruler and his family. Let's hope against hope that 2007 brings us something better, when a new Congress is sworn in.
That's the important battle for the near future. After January 3rd, we have to lean on our elected representatives, remind them that the only reason they were elected was this: To end the current national nightmare, end the war, stop the insanity.
Email them, call them, write them, from the second they take the oath of office. And, from the second they forget why we put them in office, remind them that a government that does not enforce the will of the People is no Government at all.
Those are the choices for 2007. Congress, do what we asked you to in November this January, or say hello to revolution in February.
Since the bar for hangin' war criminals has just been set so damn low by the stupidity of the Executive, there's hardly any wiggle room left. Do what we want, or suffer the consequences.
Plenty enough lamp-posts in DC and plenty enough rope to take care of the problem if you don't.
And plenty enough First Amendment that I can say that with a smile.
(0) comments
First, by openly using torture as an interrogation technique, they have forever given the nod to the rest of the world that, "Hey, it's okay to torture Americans in custody, because we do it to whomever we want to."
And, with tonight's little necktie party, and the political assassination of Saddam Hussein, this Administration has, unfortunately, (or not) opened their own necks for the rope. Their big mistake was this: if Saddam was so evil, then they should have had him tried for everything before imposing any sentence at all. After all, any one of the next dozen untried charges would have been far greater war crimes. Instead, because it was more convenient to shut him up so that he wouldn't be able to call his good buddy Donald Rumsfeld as a defense witness, the bar on "War Crimes" has actually been lowered. So, Saddam Hussein waltzed with the hangman for gassing 148 Kurds.
And, by that criteria, every member of this Administration is at least twenty times the war Criminal Hussein was -- and that's only counting American war dead. And in "collateral damage", and if numbers of dead are the sole criteria for a hangin'... forget it. Hussein was an amateur.
And, well, The Hague better be preparing their Tribunal and Scaffold now.
No one outside of the mainstream media harbors the illusion that Saddam was killed by Iraqis. Nope. That was good ol' American hemp tied around his neck. No American witnesses to the execution? Right. Want to buy a bridge? I'm sure that half the witnesses were CIA employees of Iraqi extraction -- technically, not Americans, but American by sworn loyalty.
The only real concession to local control was rushing the execution so that it would happen before a Muslim holy day, but -- a) Muslim days begin at sunset, so it was already too late, and b) the holy day in question commemorates Abraham's willingness to kill his son, Isaac. There's a metric arseload of symbolism right there -- and the Abraham and Isaac story is one of those things that makes non-believers stop and say, "Um... god wanted what?"
Anyway... if this Administration had any shred of honesty in them, Saddam would have been tried in the World Court, openly; he would have been tried on all charges brought against him before sentence was given for any crime. He would have been allowed to call any witnesses necessary, subpoena any documents required. In short, he would have been given the same considerations shown in the past to Eichman, Tojo, and every other War Criminal put in the dock.
After all, if he were so guilty, no reason to suppress anything, no worry that he wouldn't have been found guilty, right?
And don't get me wrong -- I do believe the bastard deserved to swing, or better yet, to be dropped feet first into a wood-chipper. However, not before the world got to see every accusation against him, got to hear all the evidence, got to hear every defense.
Because, ultimately, half of his defense would have indicted too many people currently in power in this country. And we can't have that happen, can we?
Future generations will note this day as a time when America truly lost its way, and abandoned every ideal upon which it was founded, for the simple sake of covering up the high crimes and misdemeanors of the current ruler and his family. Let's hope against hope that 2007 brings us something better, when a new Congress is sworn in.
That's the important battle for the near future. After January 3rd, we have to lean on our elected representatives, remind them that the only reason they were elected was this: To end the current national nightmare, end the war, stop the insanity.
Email them, call them, write them, from the second they take the oath of office. And, from the second they forget why we put them in office, remind them that a government that does not enforce the will of the People is no Government at all.
Those are the choices for 2007. Congress, do what we asked you to in November this January, or say hello to revolution in February.
Since the bar for hangin' war criminals has just been set so damn low by the stupidity of the Executive, there's hardly any wiggle room left. Do what we want, or suffer the consequences.
Plenty enough lamp-posts in DC and plenty enough rope to take care of the problem if you don't.
And plenty enough First Amendment that I can say that with a smile.
(0) comments
