Four Chinese Uighurs now have a place to call home: Bermuda. One wonders what the deal was on that one, but never mind.
It is heartening to think that some of the falsely imprisoned Uighurs now have a nice place to stay, a country where they will not be persecuted, and a population that welcomes them.
And congrats to Bermuda for the guts to stand up to Chinese pressure and threats to take these former Guantanamo Bay prisoners to begin with. The cry and panic of American politicians, and people, are really put to shame by the decent actions of the Bermudian government.
What does it say that the small country of Bermuda is willing to take in these non-terrorists - and that's in the definition of the U.S. Government - and ours falls into hysterics at the idea of it? To me, it says Americans enjoy being terrified. If there is no one there, they will make them up.
Culturally, it started with the Cold War. We had to keep the pressure for that huge amount of spending going, and stoking the terror of the American public did the trick. Then that ended and the terror became crime. Crime, crime, crime. Americans were terrified about crime, although the level of crime had been going down. That didn't stop anybody. There was a fear-mongering machine in place and they needed to do something. Then 9-11 the tragedy. Easy to find a target there. And it has been going ever since.
After all, there's lots of contracting dollars to be made. And public willingness to spend it is essential.
Showing posts with label War on Terror. Show all posts
Showing posts with label War on Terror. Show all posts
6.15.2009
4.11.2009
Sabotage!
San Francisco suffered a serious attack on its telephone infrastructure when the fiber optic cables servicing 52,214 customers were cut. It took until 4:30 p.m. the next day for service to be fully restored.
No terrorism links are suspected. But imagine that sabotage like this could be a part of an overall plan coordinated with other attacks, like bombings or crime. It's a scary thought.
Hopefully this will be a heads-up to secure the fiber optic cables more carefully in the future.
No terrorism links are suspected. But imagine that sabotage like this could be a part of an overall plan coordinated with other attacks, like bombings or crime. It's a scary thought.
Hopefully this will be a heads-up to secure the fiber optic cables more carefully in the future.
3.20.2009
Innocent People at Gitmo
He's right. Many people held in Guantanamo Bay as terrorists are not terrorists at all. But don't worry, they were tortured anyway.
The Bush Administration knew this. They didn't care. All that was important to them was stoking the terror unleashed by Osama bin Laden as a smokescreen for their conservative political agenda. That same kind of fear was also used to justify billions of dollars in government contracting in the Cold War. There's a lot of money in terror for government and military contractors. So you need to keep the old ladies scared.
People ask: how could the CIA miss the fall of the Soviet Union? There was considerable economic and political pressure to build it up. Don't underestimate Congress in this. If the CIA had announced that the Soviet Union was not a threat, Congressmen from all over the country would be calling them up in outrage. After all, spending in their districts might have gone down.
We are spending billions and billions of dollars because the military industrial complex is a fear machine.
The Bush Administration knew this. They didn't care. All that was important to them was stoking the terror unleashed by Osama bin Laden as a smokescreen for their conservative political agenda. That same kind of fear was also used to justify billions of dollars in government contracting in the Cold War. There's a lot of money in terror for government and military contractors. So you need to keep the old ladies scared.
People ask: how could the CIA miss the fall of the Soviet Union? There was considerable economic and political pressure to build it up. Don't underestimate Congress in this. If the CIA had announced that the Soviet Union was not a threat, Congressmen from all over the country would be calling them up in outrage. After all, spending in their districts might have gone down.
We are spending billions and billions of dollars because the military industrial complex is a fear machine.
4.02.2008
The Original Torture Memo and Legal Ethics
I am sure that I am not alone in feeling that John Yoo should be shot. But what about disbarred from the practice of law?
He facilitated criminal behavior by writing a ludicrous legal argument that encouraged breaking the laws against the use of torture. That is an ethics violation. He facilitated a crime. He knew it was a crime. There was no case law, statute, or regulation that supported his legal analysis.
You can't just come up with a legal theory, waive your hands in the air, and declare a formerly illegal act to be legal now that you came up with some reason to justify it. And as an attorney, John Yoo knew that.
John Yoo needs to be disbarred from the practice of law, at the least. Imprisonment would be better.
He facilitated criminal behavior by writing a ludicrous legal argument that encouraged breaking the laws against the use of torture. That is an ethics violation. He facilitated a crime. He knew it was a crime. There was no case law, statute, or regulation that supported his legal analysis.
You can't just come up with a legal theory, waive your hands in the air, and declare a formerly illegal act to be legal now that you came up with some reason to justify it. And as an attorney, John Yoo knew that.
John Yoo needs to be disbarred from the practice of law, at the least. Imprisonment would be better.
2.18.2008
But It's Only A Little Bit of Torture ...
What's with this idea that you need permanent physical damage to call something "torture."
And why do you think anything is improved because "it was only three times" - ?
This Administration doesn't have the foresight to see how this admission causes damage to our interests abroad. We have just admitted to torturing people. Now how are we going to tell people that Chinese Christians should not be beaten and jailed? We, after all, don't behave better ourselves.
I remember an America where the idea that we torture people was offensive. I remember when our meat supply was safe. I remember when college was affordable. What happened, America? The Reagan Revolution, that's what.
And why do you think anything is improved because "it was only three times" - ?
This Administration doesn't have the foresight to see how this admission causes damage to our interests abroad. We have just admitted to torturing people. Now how are we going to tell people that Chinese Christians should not be beaten and jailed? We, after all, don't behave better ourselves.
I remember an America where the idea that we torture people was offensive. I remember when our meat supply was safe. I remember when college was affordable. What happened, America? The Reagan Revolution, that's what.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)