The Senile Old Men
I see that Vice President Cheney is "offended" by Amnesty International's suggestion that the United States is engaged in human rights violations toward prisoners of war at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
Offended. He's offended because an international organization has called the United States on its misbehavior. He is not offended at the misbehavior itself, you notice, nor at the exposure to international censure that the misbehavior has caused. He's offended because someone caught us at it and filed a report.
And why does he find this offensive? Partly because he says the allegations are untrue, coming from well-treated prisoners who were released and are now spreading lies about Guantanamo. And obviously, an organization of long experience like Amnesty International would of course rely on two or three anecdotes from tainted sources in filing their reports. Sure.
But mostly, Vice President Cheney seems to find the suggestion of prisoner abuse offensive because the United States has freed so many millions from abuse over the course of the 20th Century, including those it has freed in Afghanistan and Iraq. In other words, he's equating the rapid rebuilding of Europe after World War II with the ongoing horrors in the nations that the Bush Administration invaded on faulty intelligence. He's equating the release of many millions from prison camps after World War II with the "freedom" enjoyed by those millions of Afghans and Iraqis who don't know from one day to the next whether some insurgent is going to blow them to bits.
But let's ignore that insane claim for a moment. Even if it's true that the United States has freed millions from abuse from the beginning of the 20th Century to today, JUST WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ABUSES AT GUANTANAMO, DICK??!
Mr. Cheney might as well say to some Iraqi mother, "Yeah, we humiliated your son, but you should forget about that because we're such nice guys most of the time." Even if the son in question is a vicious terrorist, is it therefore excusable to violate international law in incarcerating him? The Bush administration thinks so - our Attorney General wrote a memo, remember, calling the Geneva Accord "quaint". I beg to differ.
The CNN story goes on to detail Mr. Cheney's prediction that the Iraqi insurgency is on its last legs and will be over before George W. Bush leaves office. I have suggested in previous open letters to the White House that Mr. Bush is out of touch with reality to a dangerous degree; with this pronouncement from his number two man, I now publicly accuse the entire administration of being certifiably deranged.
Benshlomo says, There comes a time to suppress one's empathy with a crazy man and lock him up for your own safety.
Offended. He's offended because an international organization has called the United States on its misbehavior. He is not offended at the misbehavior itself, you notice, nor at the exposure to international censure that the misbehavior has caused. He's offended because someone caught us at it and filed a report.
And why does he find this offensive? Partly because he says the allegations are untrue, coming from well-treated prisoners who were released and are now spreading lies about Guantanamo. And obviously, an organization of long experience like Amnesty International would of course rely on two or three anecdotes from tainted sources in filing their reports. Sure.
But mostly, Vice President Cheney seems to find the suggestion of prisoner abuse offensive because the United States has freed so many millions from abuse over the course of the 20th Century, including those it has freed in Afghanistan and Iraq. In other words, he's equating the rapid rebuilding of Europe after World War II with the ongoing horrors in the nations that the Bush Administration invaded on faulty intelligence. He's equating the release of many millions from prison camps after World War II with the "freedom" enjoyed by those millions of Afghans and Iraqis who don't know from one day to the next whether some insurgent is going to blow them to bits.
But let's ignore that insane claim for a moment. Even if it's true that the United States has freed millions from abuse from the beginning of the 20th Century to today, JUST WHAT DOES THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ABUSES AT GUANTANAMO, DICK??!
Mr. Cheney might as well say to some Iraqi mother, "Yeah, we humiliated your son, but you should forget about that because we're such nice guys most of the time." Even if the son in question is a vicious terrorist, is it therefore excusable to violate international law in incarcerating him? The Bush administration thinks so - our Attorney General wrote a memo, remember, calling the Geneva Accord "quaint". I beg to differ.
The CNN story goes on to detail Mr. Cheney's prediction that the Iraqi insurgency is on its last legs and will be over before George W. Bush leaves office. I have suggested in previous open letters to the White House that Mr. Bush is out of touch with reality to a dangerous degree; with this pronouncement from his number two man, I now publicly accuse the entire administration of being certifiably deranged.
Benshlomo says, There comes a time to suppress one's empathy with a crazy man and lock him up for your own safety.
posted by benshlomo at 10:55 PM
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