War crimes
Apr. 30th, 2004 08:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sobriqueIf a national power were to invade England.
Depose Tony Blair and the Cabinet.
Imprison and start torturing our citizens.
Then I think I'd be doing my damnedest to find myself a rifle. Hell, any sort of gun or explosive.
And I'd be firing it at the attackers.
I was horrified to hear about the US 'interrogation' of iraqi prisoners (BBC Link).
The people shooting at the US army have changed in my opinion. They're now not terrorists. They're freedom fighters.
The quote that really wound me up this morning, on Radio 4 (by some politico)
"You can't compare the treatment of these prisoners with the atrocities commited by Saddam Hussein".
Actually, surely the WHOLE FUCKING POINT is that you CAN.
I agree that the numbers are less. But morality isn't measured in terms of numbers. It's measured in your ability to commit an atrocity. I don't give a fuck if you tortured 1 person, or a thousand people. You're still a monster. And you should still be up in front of a war crimes tribunal. If not just tried as a 'common criminal.'.
I also believe that we should be seeing George Bush up in front of the ICC. Because the bottom line it that it's _his_ responsibility. We're holding Saddam responsible for the actions of his army under his regime.
I see no reason to make an exception just because we happen to be on the same side.
Depose Tony Blair and the Cabinet.
Imprison and start torturing our citizens.
Then I think I'd be doing my damnedest to find myself a rifle. Hell, any sort of gun or explosive.
And I'd be firing it at the attackers.
I was horrified to hear about the US 'interrogation' of iraqi prisoners (BBC Link).
The people shooting at the US army have changed in my opinion. They're now not terrorists. They're freedom fighters.
The quote that really wound me up this morning, on Radio 4 (by some politico)
"You can't compare the treatment of these prisoners with the atrocities commited by Saddam Hussein".
Actually, surely the WHOLE FUCKING POINT is that you CAN.
I agree that the numbers are less. But morality isn't measured in terms of numbers. It's measured in your ability to commit an atrocity. I don't give a fuck if you tortured 1 person, or a thousand people. You're still a monster. And you should still be up in front of a war crimes tribunal. If not just tried as a 'common criminal.'.
I also believe that we should be seeing George Bush up in front of the ICC. Because the bottom line it that it's _his_ responsibility. We're holding Saddam responsible for the actions of his army under his regime.
I see no reason to make an exception just because we happen to be on the same side.
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no subject
Date: 2004-04-30 06:03 am (UTC)The brutality in the gaols is another matter. As a general rule in war thoses not fit for front line duties end up as guards in POW camps. It seems to me there was a distinct lack of leadership. If your C-in-C says "Do that and i'll have your bollocks", and sounds like he means it, then the pointless nastness would stop. It seems no such thing happened. Under those circumstances, bad people will do whatever bad thing they can think off.
As opposed to roughing up guerrillas, well its easy to say its wrong from the comfort of our air conditioned offices. If your stuck out in Iraq, and people are trying to kill your buddies the veiw is a bit different. Knocking the poor bastards about to try to find out where their frends are hiding make well look like a perfectly reasoable thing to do. I muight well act that way if I was in Iraq. I put a very high value on the lives of my friends. That doesn't make it right, just a sad fact of life.