"Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel" Samuel Johnson
“Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any [prisoner]. . . I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enormity of the crime may require. Should it extend to death itself, it will not be disproportional to its guilt at such a time and in such a cause… for by such conduct they bring shame, disgrace and ruin to themselves and their country.” - George Washington, charge to the Northern Expeditionary Force, Sept. 14, 1775
Also see: Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment first 3 sections at end of post below.
American exceptionalism and its belief that everything America does is done with "Good intentions"
And when God Himself we are told is on America's side then how can we or anyone criticize the US government or its Military. By criticizing America the logic continues that one is going against the Will of God.
So it becomes second nature for millions of Americans to defend whatever their government or military do.
There are some disingenuous exceptions publicly for instance by the GOP and the Tea Party who are critical of government mainly when the Democrats are in power but they support President Obama's continuation of the Bush/Cheney Regimes worst abuses such as Torture rebranded as "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" and renditions, indefinite detention ie Bradley Manning , bombing civilian targets , targeted assassinations, wars of aggression under the cloak of NATO and the United Nations ie Libya and of course unnecessary wide spread surveillance of American citizens .
And so Dick Cheney's legacy continues and since Obama has not taken Cheney or Bush to task over their War Crimes and Crimes against humanity Obama is giving them not just a free pass but is helping to make their criminal policies the norm for America.
As I have said before what right given America's policies do they have to condemn Qaddafi or anyone else who employs the very same policies ie torture that the US has said is justified in defending America's National Security.
Poor old George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine must be rolling over in their graves .
The Bush/Cheney regime has dishonored America's founding fathers and its greatest leaders over the last two hundred years.But of course historically the USA has not always been on the side of its better angels as it were ie the Indian Wars, Slavery, Jim Crow, Lynchings, Japanese American internment camps and backing one vicious brutal dictator after another.The so called "Shining City on the Hill " has become a nation rife with corruption , hypocrisy , bigotry , elitism and is seen by most of the World as double dealing, duplicitous and self serving all based on its one true value "Greed".
America has now officially gone over to the darkside with Dick Cheney.
Do Americans really believe torture, renditions, targeted assassinations are legal and moral.
Dick Cheney believes in using whatever means in defense of national Security .
As we have learned over the years the "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques " were not used to defend America but to produce phony intel to backup America's unnecessary and illegal and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq.
As far as Dick Cheney and President Bush and President Obama are concerned the Rule of Law does not apply to the elite group in the Whitehouse, the CIA, the Pentagon, Homeland security and so forth.
The Rule of law we are now told only applies to average citizens and not for the rich and powerful. And whether Obama 's die hard supporters agree or not President Obama is now officially part of the Good Old Boys Club
Dick Cheney "The Ugly American"
Tells lies to push America into war with Iraq
Dick Cheney illegally and immorally uses various Torture techniques & this he is proud of
Dick Cheney praises himself and throws Powell Coni Rice , Tenet et al under the bus
Glenn Greenwald on Dick Cheney's "In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir." 2 of 2 Democracynow!
TheAlyonaShow: Col. Wilkerson: 'Gestapo,' 'Nazi's' in Cheney's Office
Decorated General Colin Powell Blasts '5 Time Draft Dodger' Dick Cheney's Barbs & Cheap Shots
*Countdown with Keith ...: Joseph Wilson: Cheney's defense of the Iraq War, torture, Pt 1
*Countdown with Keith ...: Joseph Wilson: Cheney's defense of the Iraq War, torture, Pt 2
The US government and its military have broken all of these statutes over the past ten years and continues to do so.
also see: "The DOJ's escalating criminalization of speech" by Glenn Greenwald Salon.com, Sept. 4, 2011
Libyan Rebels Listed by US State Department as Terrorists NATO leaders are guilty under US code of providing material support to terrorists.By Tony Cartalucci at Information Clearing House, Sept. 3, 2011
Was War the Only Answer to 9/11? By Noam Chomsky September 05, 2011 "Nation Of Change" via Information Clearing House
How Half of Terror Cases Investigated By the FBI ... Were Also Hatched by the FBI-What single organization is responsible for more terror plots in the USA than any other? If you happened to guess the FBI, you'd be right. by lawrence Davidson at Consortium News via Alternet.org, August 30, 2011
Original Investigation: The Untold Story in Libya: How the West Cooked Up the “People’s Uprising” by Russ Baker, Alternet.org, Sept. 6, 2011
Extraordinary rendition lawsuit also window into low point for American experiment
A fight between subcontractors leads to the publication of details of the CIA's secret kidnapping program by Alex PareeneSalon.com, Sept. 2, 2011
Reporter recounts massacre revealed by WikiLeaks by Justin Elliott at Salon.com, Sept. 3, 2011
In America The Rule Of Law Is Vacated By Paul Craig Roberts September 01, 2011 "Information Clearing House"
And on humane treatment of POWs , Enemy Combatants, civilians :
and so it goes,
GORD.
“Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any [prisoner]. . . I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enormity of the crime may require. Should it extend to death itself, it will not be disproportional to its guilt at such a time and in such a cause… for by such conduct they bring shame, disgrace and ruin to themselves and their country.” - George Washington, charge to the Northern Expeditionary Force, Sept. 14, 1775
Also see: Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment first 3 sections at end of post below.
American exceptionalism and its belief that everything America does is done with "Good intentions"
And when God Himself we are told is on America's side then how can we or anyone criticize the US government or its Military. By criticizing America the logic continues that one is going against the Will of God.
So it becomes second nature for millions of Americans to defend whatever their government or military do.
There are some disingenuous exceptions publicly for instance by the GOP and the Tea Party who are critical of government mainly when the Democrats are in power but they support President Obama's continuation of the Bush/Cheney Regimes worst abuses such as Torture rebranded as "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques" and renditions, indefinite detention ie Bradley Manning , bombing civilian targets , targeted assassinations, wars of aggression under the cloak of NATO and the United Nations ie Libya and of course unnecessary wide spread surveillance of American citizens .
And so Dick Cheney's legacy continues and since Obama has not taken Cheney or Bush to task over their War Crimes and Crimes against humanity Obama is giving them not just a free pass but is helping to make their criminal policies the norm for America.
As I have said before what right given America's policies do they have to condemn Qaddafi or anyone else who employs the very same policies ie torture that the US has said is justified in defending America's National Security.
Poor old George Washington and Thomas Jefferson and Thomas Paine must be rolling over in their graves .
The Bush/Cheney regime has dishonored America's founding fathers and its greatest leaders over the last two hundred years.But of course historically the USA has not always been on the side of its better angels as it were ie the Indian Wars, Slavery, Jim Crow, Lynchings, Japanese American internment camps and backing one vicious brutal dictator after another.The so called "Shining City on the Hill " has become a nation rife with corruption , hypocrisy , bigotry , elitism and is seen by most of the World as double dealing, duplicitous and self serving all based on its one true value "Greed".
America has now officially gone over to the darkside with Dick Cheney.
Do Americans really believe torture, renditions, targeted assassinations are legal and moral.
Dick Cheney believes in using whatever means in defense of national Security .
As we have learned over the years the "Enhanced Interrogation Techniques " were not used to defend America but to produce phony intel to backup America's unnecessary and illegal and immoral invasion and occupation of Iraq.
As far as Dick Cheney and President Bush and President Obama are concerned the Rule of Law does not apply to the elite group in the Whitehouse, the CIA, the Pentagon, Homeland security and so forth.
The Rule of law we are now told only applies to average citizens and not for the rich and powerful. And whether Obama 's die hard supporters agree or not President Obama is now officially part of the Good Old Boys Club
Dick Cheney "The Ugly American"
Tells lies to push America into war with Iraq
Dick Cheney illegally and immorally uses various Torture techniques & this he is proud of
Dick Cheney praises himself and throws Powell Coni Rice , Tenet et al under the bus
Glenn Greenwald on Dick Cheney's "In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir." 2 of 2 Democracynow!
TheAlyonaShow: Col. Wilkerson: 'Gestapo,' 'Nazi's' in Cheney's Office
Decorated General Colin Powell Blasts '5 Time Draft Dodger' Dick Cheney's Barbs & Cheap Shots
*Countdown with Keith ...: Joseph Wilson: Cheney's defense of the Iraq War, torture, Pt 1
*Countdown with Keith ...: Joseph Wilson: Cheney's defense of the Iraq War, torture, Pt 2
The US government and its military have broken all of these statutes over the past ten years and continues to do so.
also see: "The DOJ's escalating criminalization of speech" by Glenn Greenwald Salon.com, Sept. 4, 2011
Libyan Rebels Listed by US State Department as Terrorists NATO leaders are guilty under US code of providing material support to terrorists.By Tony Cartalucci at Information Clearing House, Sept. 3, 2011
Was War the Only Answer to 9/11? By Noam Chomsky September 05, 2011 "Nation Of Change" via Information Clearing House
How Half of Terror Cases Investigated By the FBI ... Were Also Hatched by the FBI-What single organization is responsible for more terror plots in the USA than any other? If you happened to guess the FBI, you'd be right. by lawrence Davidson at Consortium News via Alternet.org, August 30, 2011
Original Investigation: The Untold Story in Libya: How the West Cooked Up the “People’s Uprising” by Russ Baker, Alternet.org, Sept. 6, 2011
Extraordinary rendition lawsuit also window into low point for American experiment
A fight between subcontractors leads to the publication of details of the CIA's secret kidnapping program by Alex PareeneSalon.com, Sept. 2, 2011
Reporter recounts massacre revealed by WikiLeaks by Justin Elliott at Salon.com, Sept. 3, 2011
In America The Rule Of Law Is Vacated By Paul Craig Roberts September 01, 2011 "Information Clearing House"
And on humane treatment of POWs , Enemy Combatants, civilians :
Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, 75 U.N.T.S. 135, entered into force Oct. 21, 1950.
PART I
GENERAL PROVISIONS
Article 1
The High Contracting Parties undertake to respect and to ensure respect for the present Convention in all circumstances.
Article 2
In addition to the provisions which shall be implemented in peace time, the present Convention shall apply to all cases of declared war or of any other armed conflict which may arise between two or more of the High Contracting Parties, even if the state of war is not recognized by one of them.
The Convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory of a High Contracting Party, even if the said occupation meets with no armed resistance.
Although one of the Powers in conflict may not be a party to the present Convention, the Powers who are parties thereto shall remain bound by it in their mutual relations. They shall furthermore be bound by the Convention in relation to the said Power, if the latter accepts and applies the provisions thereof.
Article 3
In the case of armed conflict not of an international character occurring in the territory of one of the High Contracting Parties, each party to the conflict shall be bound to apply, as a minimum, the following provisions:
1. Persons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed hors de combat by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.
To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever with respect to the above-mentioned persons:
(a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(b) Taking of hostages;
(c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;
(d) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment pronounced by a regularly constituted court affording all the judicial guarantees which are recognized as indispensable by civilized peoples.
2. The wounded and sick shall be collected and cared for.
An impartial humanitarian body, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, may offer its services to the Parties to the conflict.
The Parties to the conflict should further endeavour to bring into force, by means of special agreements, all or part of the other provisions of the present Convention.
The application of the preceding provisions shall not affect the legal status of the Parties to the conflict.
and so it goes,
GORD.
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