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America's brand of
democracy we in Europe can well do
without. And the long-suffering Iraqi people
deserve a
better fate than this when the war’s over.
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"Bumsfeld's" heroism, using weapons of mass destruction on a defenceless people |
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Picture: Heroic Iraqi Soldiers, trying to protect their women and children from America's weapons of mass destruction with little more than museum type rifles. "These goddam Iraqis who were supposed to surrender en masse to their GI liberators without a fight, had not only shown fierce, even heroic (never to be admitted by Bush or Blair) resistance, but had had the temerity to capture some American soldiers." Bush and Rumsfeld "running one of the greatest illegal wars in history, with the most devilishly destructive weapons" are bombing the Iraqi people into America's democracy. "Bumsfeld's" heroism! |
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SUR IN ENGLISH, March 28 to April 3, 2003, page 26 |
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Opinion
True to form George Todd
Yes, they’re at it again. The own-goal mentality is still to the fore. In their conduct of the war in Iraq, the American military are proving true to form. As in Gulf War I and in Afghanistan, they are showing themselves adept at attacking their own side. This time they launched a missile that struck an RAF Tornado. They can put this on the same slate where they marked their earlier feat of shooting British soldiers in Poppy Bush’s Gulf War. But this time, by the way, with one of the super missiles which are amazingly accurate and will land only on their target, so avoiding "collateral damage". At least, this is the gospel according to American defence chief Donald Dumbsfeld - sorry, Rumsfeld. So how did this super-duper weapon manage to hit something so far from its target? On the same day as this triumph of inefficiency and lousy organisation was announced (last Sunday), we were subjected to the typically arrogant remarks of Bumsfelt - sorry, Rumsfeld (excuse the Freudian slip). Much to his annoyance, these goddam Iraqis who were supposed to surrender en masse to their GI liberators without a fight, had not only shown fierce, even heroic (never to be admitted by Bush or Blair) resistance, but had had the temerity to capture some American soldiers. But worse, to show they weren’t lying, the Iraqi authorities had them televised being interviewed by an Iraqi journalist, who asked their name and why they had come to Iraq. This piece of evidence prevented the Americans from denying or fudging the fact, and it put the said Rumsfeld severely in the strunts. This man, typical of an administration which has ignored or flouted or contemned every international law or treaty in sight, had the great gall to declare that showing American prisoners on television was in contravention of the Geneva Convention. This from a man who is running one of the greatest illegal wars in history, with the most devilishly destructive weapons, flying directly in the face of the United Nations for which he has shown nothing but the utmost scorn. This is the same man who has insulted any statesman or nation whose opinions and judgment don’t happen to coincide with those of the almighty US, which, as President G W Bush keeps reminding us ad nauseam, is "the greatest nation on the face of the earth". As for prisoners of war being shown on television, I saw on the same day lots of TV pictures of Iraqi prisoners of war who had been captured by British and American marines. They weren’t harassed or embarrassed by a politely enquiring journalist. No, they were pushed to the ground, subjected to a thoroughgoing search, and, presumably if they had no weapons of mass destruction in their pockets, they were marched off with hands on head. I didn’t hear a squeak from Rumsfeld about these scenes contravening the Geneva Convention. For a member of an administration which has ignored, opposed or sought to destroy every international attempt to preserve peace and the rule of law in the world, from the non-proliferation treaty and the Kyoto environment accord to the legitimacy of the Security Council and the International Criminal Court - for such a representative to appeal to the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war is an astounding piece of effrontery. This is especially so when we think of what the USA is doing to prisoners from the Afghan war, who are constantly shackled, can only hobble with the help of guards, and were initially locked in cages, at Cuba’s Guantanamo Bay. Subjected to inhuman treatment, in complete violation of human rights, they are deprived even of the name of prisoners of war so as to avoid any irritating question of rights. God help you indeed if, even as an individual in the USA itself, you are arrested on suspicion under the Patriot Act. You can be held indefinitely, with no legal or other appeal. The right of habeas corpus means as much to this administration as it did to Hitler’s Gestapo, Stalin’s OGPU or any other fiendish instrument of a totalitarian regime, including that of Saddam Hussein. But this is the brand of "democracy" that the Bush administration wishes to impose on the rest of the world. It is the kind of democracy we in Europe can well do without. And the long-suffering Iraqi people deserve a better fate than this when the war’s over. © Copyright Diario SUR Digital, S. L |
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"Bush is
waging terrorism" |
