I try not to do the following anymore, on the whizz bang new blog, but today I am going to link to multiple err links in the one post. Not all in the same paragraph, of course, that would just look messy. Nowadays I try to limit my links per post to one and one only, but I have read three stunningly good opinion pieces this weekend, and I want to mention them all. Stunningly good in my own personal opinion of course.
The first was to do with Khalid Sheik Mohamed, locked away in Guantanamo Bay after a period of time in CIA extra-judicial facilities, god knows where. This week, he gave confessions to planning September 11, the 2002 Bali bombing, beheading Daniel Pearl - I am so glad I resisted watching that on the web myself - and various other atrocities. This was at a unlawful combatant status hearing at Guantanamo Bay itself.
Anne Applebaum in the Washington Post puts it best -
'Who could have imagined, in September of 2001, that one of the deadliest terrorists in history would admit to the destruction of the World Trade Center -- and that the world would shrug its shoulders?'
This shrugging of shoulders of course, is indicative of the general Western reaction to the fact that any confession the guy has given is tainted with the possibility of torture. The ends do not justify the means, and most people seem to have recoiled more from the torture than 9/11. Well, maybe not recoiled, but grown accustomed to the history, and any confession derived from even the possibility of torture is considered by most people to be useless.
As the New York Times followed up in an editorial today, Bush was advised that it would be better to close Guantanamo and relocate the prisoners to the mainland by current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, supported by Secretary of State Condi Rice, but the Prez took the advice of Cheney and Attorney General Gonzalez to keep it open. So it has been kept open, only to witness the debacle of fake confessions we had in the past week. Well, maybe not fake, but -
'When Khalid Shaikh Mohammed — for all appearances a truly evil and dangerous man — confessed to a long list of heinous crimes, including planning the 9/11 attacks, many Americans reacted with skepticism and even derision. The confession became the butt of editorial cartoons, like one that showed the prisoner confessing to betting on the Cincinnati Reds, and fodder for the late-night comedians.'
And to the wider war, the one on terror if not on Iraq, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former Secretary of State of President Carter - yes, that is a blast from the past - puts into words what I have been thinking the past few years, that the war on terror is partially a front to create a climate of fear, doubt and panic into the Western world.
'That America has become insecure and more paranoid is hardly debatable. A recent study reported that in 2003, Congress identified 160 sites as potentially important national targets for would-be terrorists. With lobbyists weighing in, by the end of that year the list had grown to 1,849; by the end of 2004, to 28,360; by 2005, to 77,769. The national database of possible targets now has some 300,000 items in it, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and an Illinois Apple and Pork Festival.'
Mr Z also goes onto a pet thought of mine, that for all the security in the world at airports and buildings and the like, no one has set up security screening points for shopping centres, which would be a nice easy big dumb target if anyone wanting harm actually got near one. Or all those extra security guards that have been employed since September 11, or the huge inflation in security budgets for events the world over - you get someone committed enough, and there is no way you can stop them.
Not even to start mentioning the war in Iraq, the US Attorney General under fire for lying about sacking some federal attorneys, the potential death of wild orangutans in five years time. No wonder some people submerge themselves in the minutae of celebrity lives, the real world is a scary scary uncertain place.
Oh to go back to the days of a show about nothing, and some stains on a dress leading to a presidential impeachment. Whither the 90s?
The first was to do with Khalid Sheik Mohamed, locked away in Guantanamo Bay after a period of time in CIA extra-judicial facilities, god knows where. This week, he gave confessions to planning September 11, the 2002 Bali bombing, beheading Daniel Pearl - I am so glad I resisted watching that on the web myself - and various other atrocities. This was at a unlawful combatant status hearing at Guantanamo Bay itself.
Anne Applebaum in the Washington Post puts it best -
'Who could have imagined, in September of 2001, that one of the deadliest terrorists in history would admit to the destruction of the World Trade Center -- and that the world would shrug its shoulders?'
This shrugging of shoulders of course, is indicative of the general Western reaction to the fact that any confession the guy has given is tainted with the possibility of torture. The ends do not justify the means, and most people seem to have recoiled more from the torture than 9/11. Well, maybe not recoiled, but grown accustomed to the history, and any confession derived from even the possibility of torture is considered by most people to be useless.
As the New York Times followed up in an editorial today, Bush was advised that it would be better to close Guantanamo and relocate the prisoners to the mainland by current Defense Secretary Robert Gates, supported by Secretary of State Condi Rice, but the Prez took the advice of Cheney and Attorney General Gonzalez to keep it open. So it has been kept open, only to witness the debacle of fake confessions we had in the past week. Well, maybe not fake, but -
'When Khalid Shaikh Mohammed — for all appearances a truly evil and dangerous man — confessed to a long list of heinous crimes, including planning the 9/11 attacks, many Americans reacted with skepticism and even derision. The confession became the butt of editorial cartoons, like one that showed the prisoner confessing to betting on the Cincinnati Reds, and fodder for the late-night comedians.'
And to the wider war, the one on terror if not on Iraq, Zbigniew Brzezinski, former Secretary of State of President Carter - yes, that is a blast from the past - puts into words what I have been thinking the past few years, that the war on terror is partially a front to create a climate of fear, doubt and panic into the Western world.
'That America has become insecure and more paranoid is hardly debatable. A recent study reported that in 2003, Congress identified 160 sites as potentially important national targets for would-be terrorists. With lobbyists weighing in, by the end of that year the list had grown to 1,849; by the end of 2004, to 28,360; by 2005, to 77,769. The national database of possible targets now has some 300,000 items in it, including the Sears Tower in Chicago and an Illinois Apple and Pork Festival.'
Mr Z also goes onto a pet thought of mine, that for all the security in the world at airports and buildings and the like, no one has set up security screening points for shopping centres, which would be a nice easy big dumb target if anyone wanting harm actually got near one. Or all those extra security guards that have been employed since September 11, or the huge inflation in security budgets for events the world over - you get someone committed enough, and there is no way you can stop them.
Not even to start mentioning the war in Iraq, the US Attorney General under fire for lying about sacking some federal attorneys, the potential death of wild orangutans in five years time. No wonder some people submerge themselves in the minutae of celebrity lives, the real world is a scary scary uncertain place.
Oh to go back to the days of a show about nothing, and some stains on a dress leading to a presidential impeachment. Whither the 90s?
No comments:
Post a Comment