Will The Real Terrorists Stand Down?
by pessimist
King George was slapped by his Supreme Court for exceeding his authority:
Supreme Court Blocks Guantánamo Tribunals
Jamie Rose for The New York Times
In an important part of the ruling [majority opinion by Justice Stevens and a concurring opinion by Justice Anthony M. Kennedy], the court held that a provision of the Geneva Conventions known as Common Article 3 applies to the Guantanamo detainees and is enforceable in federal court for their protection.
and prohibits trials except by "a regularly constituted court
affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized
as indispensable by civilized people."
That is the problem. The United States is no longer a civilized nation. We wouldn't know anymore what 'indispensable judicial guarantees' are. Want proof? Look at what American soldiers did in Hamdania and Haditha, in Ishaqi, at Abu Ghraib, in Balad.
And now, in clear refutation of any claims that the military is getting its troops re-educated as to what proper occupational behavior is to be, comes this:
US 'to probe new Iraq killings'
30 June 2006
The US military has opened a probe into the alleged killing of an Iraqi family by US soldiers, military officials say. Five soldiers are being investigated for allegedly raping a woman and killing her and three members of her family, an unnamed official told AP.
Is Lt. Ehren Watada the only American soldier with a conscience?
Correction: is he the only American with a conscience?
It is becoming clear - to the rest of the world if not to America - that the United States is becoming the enemy. We claim to be fighting terrorism, yet resort to terrorist tactics to enforce The Will of the administration. Oderint dum metuant is the motto of the Occupation, and yet all it accomplishes is the further restriction to the Green Zone of 'coalition' forces. Even US troops in Iraq aren't safe from kidnapping and torture - and murder.
Once US female personnel are captured, can we count out rape of the list of crimes committed against them? We Americans have been claiming 'eye for an eye' since 9-11. Are we to expect that - having announced the rules of the game - that our proscribed opponents won't follow them as well?
Of course not! It isn't going to matter to Muslims if these atrocities are consigned to 'a few bad apples':
Do such incidents perpetrated by the coalition forces in Iraq still surprise us? Are we shocked by the idea of US soldiers not abiding by the “ethical” rules of warfare? Do we view these events as isolated tragedies enacted by a few bad apples in the US or British army as described by Lieutenant-General Peter Chiarelli, Commander of the Multinational Corps in Iraq?
Unfortunately, there are a few individuals who sometimes choose the wrong path.”
Thaer Juma, a lawyer and director of a non-governmental organization in Baghdad, commented, “....these crimes are happening every day in Haditha and Ramadi but the international community knows nothing about them because there are media blackouts on the operations and there are no international humanitarian non-governmental organizations to record these transgressions.”Massacres and debased actions by coalition forces are nothing new to the Iraqi people.
* Consider if you will, Falluja 2004 where hundreds of innocent Iraqi civilians were killed following the US-led offensive on the town.
* Consider if you will, the raid into a Sh’ia mosque this March by US troops that led to the slaughter of 37 unarmed Iraqis.
* Consider if you will, Abu Ghraib, where even Muslim women were sexually tortured in the same manner as the men, forced to undress in front of male guards, photographed, and some raped.
* Consider if you will, the pictures of British troops caught on camera abusing and torturing prisoners in Basra.
As these western governments and their military struggle desperately try to explain that these atrocities are not systemic within their armies, inherent to their values, and do not represent their way of life, comparisons to past wars have resurfaced:* The My Lai massacre in Vietnam in 1968, where 500 villages were slaughtered by the Charlie Company of the 11th Brigade of the American Division of the US army;
* Vietnam 1967, where it is said that the Tiger force comprising US troops murdered hundreds of Vietnamese men, women and children in the Quang Ngai Province;
* South Korea where for 50 years, villagers have insisted that American soldiers targeted and killed hundreds of civilians, including women and children, in a series of massacres during the Korean War
Considering the sorry history of US actions in Asian wars, someone with a brain could see that there is a problem. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any functioning brains in the Pentagon - and there hasn't been since WWII. This shortage leads Gary Younge of The Guardian to comment:
You can only talk about a few bad apples for so long before you need to take a serious look at the barrel. If the wanton murder of civilians is what it takes to complete your mission, there is clearly something wrong with the mission.
Damn it, America! Get off your lazy Red State asses and take your country back! Shut off the fucking television and get your brain working again! Get this country back on track, and reclaim the American reputation for fairness and honesty that we lost when Bush openly took over illegally. Because if you don't, the rest of the world will see to it that you do - and you won't have any say in how it gets done. You will lose everything that you cherish as an American.
Or is that not enough to get through your thick PNAC-infested skull and reach your FAUX Newz-corrupted brain?
May God damn you to Hell on Earth if it isn't!
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