Amnesty International called on Canadian authorities Wednesday to arrest and prosecute George W. Bush, saying the former U.S. president authorized “torture” when he directed the U.S.-led war on terror.The former human rights organisation has also described the system by which the USA detains enemy combatants as "the Gulag of our times". There are flaws with Guantanamo Bay- it seems likely that some of the detainees are innocent and they fall into neither the category of prisoner of war or standard criminals. However to compare a detention camp with a few hundred individuals suspected of terrorism- which two US administrations have found no adequate alternative to- with the Soviet system of gulags under which millions of people were sent to their deaths is a lie. Not only a lie but a trivialisation of genocide that David Irving would be proud of.
Perhaps if Bush had instituted a system of public executions, stopped the education of women etc, Amnesty would not only not condemn him but invite him to be an official partner of the organisation.
* To my great shame I actually joined the organisation for a year about a decade ago.
7 comments:
No reason to be ashamed of joining Amnesty. Yes, some of their recent causes are getting a bit daft, but below the headlines they're still doing a lot of good work for political prisoners and against torture.
And GWB, while obviously not a war criminal in the league of Ratko Mladic et al (He "won" the wars he started, after all), he did "achieve" the systematic adoption of torture in a country that is, by its very constitution, bound not to. Not to mention his other attempts to abolish the rule of law - national and international - whenever he found it inconvenient. Quite an achievement, one for which he surely deserves to rot in an unpleasant place, for a long time.
Of course it won't happen, and even asking for it makes you look faintly ridiculous. But that doesn't mean everyone should focus purely on realpolitik - it's nice that at least some organisations stick to a principled approach.
"... he did "achieve" the systematic adoption of torture .."
While the progressives achieved the stretching of the definition of 'torture' to mean 'was made vaguely uncomfortable for a few minutes'...
"... he did "achieve" the systematic adoption of torture .."
While the progressives achieved the stretching of the definition of 'torture' to mean 'was made vaguely uncomfortable for a few minutes'...
“Does anyone still take Amnesty International seriously?”
I don’t suppose many do, but I suspect it’s one of those irritants which serves a purpose. An occasional nuisance you wouldn’t like to see wiped out – like rhododendrons.
I notice that they haven't called for the arrest of St Barack of Obama. He has kept Guantanamo open despite promising toi close it down and then watched the "live" feed of Bin Liner's execution.
To my great shame I actually joined the organisation for a year about a decade ago.
Yes but you joined when it wasn't the issue it is now.
While the progressives achieved the stretching of the definition of 'torture' to mean 'was made vaguely uncomfortable for a few minutes'...
Torture: Beating, waterboarding...
"Vaguely uncomfortable for a few minutes": Walking in ill-fitting shoes; listening to Oasis; reading inane comments about how torture isn't torture...
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