Imagine if a group foreigners had come to the USA, gang-raped a 14-year old American girl and murdered her, her mother, her father and her sister. You'd expect the culprits to face American justice, in America.
This is what Sergeant Paul E. Cortez, Specialist James P. Barker, Private First Class Jesse V. Spielman, Private First Class Brian L. Howard, Private First Class Steven Dale Green and Sergeant Anthony W. Yribe. Only, they were Americans, the victims were Iraqis and the crimes were committed in Iraq.
Did these scum face Iraqi justice? No, instead they were handed over to the American justice system thanks to a special American law (Military Extraterritorial Jurisdiction Act) which was enacted solely for the purpose of protecting American criminals.
Even in America they could have faced the death penalty. But a jury in red-neck Kentucky decided to not to give them the death penalty. Why would they send Americans to the gallows for killing Muslims. Muslims attacked America.
Instead they were given prison sentences ranging from 27 months to life:
Barker: 20 years
Cortez: 10 years
Green: Life
Howard: 27 months
Spielman: 10 years
Yribe: Charges dropped
It seems that in Iraq no one is above the law, except Americans.
Friday, 4 September 2009
Tuesday, 1 September 2009
70-40
Today is the anniversary of two events that show that the "international community's" attitude to tyranny hasn't changed over the last seventy years.
70 years ago Germany attacked Poland triggering a world war that would take the lives of 50 million people and change the cause of world history. The legacy of this war (end of empire, cold war) is still around. The war only came about as a result of the "international community's" appeasement of Fascist tyranny. They allowed the Fascists to do as they please (Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia) as long as they didn't affect their "interests". Only when the Fascists threatened their interests did they react but by then the only way stop them was war. Never forget that the Allies didn't go to war to rescue the Poles, nor the Jews. They only went to war because the Fascists' imperial ambitions threatened the Allies' empires.
40 years ago Mad Dog Gaddafi staged a coup in Libya, heralding decades of tyranny for the Libyan people. For many years Libya was a pariah state, accused of supporting international terrorism. After 9/11, realising the winds of change, Gadaffi renounced terrorism. He immediately became the darling of the "international community". World leaders, with multinationals in tow, soon descended on Libya, eager to exploit Libya's natural wealth. Hundreds of billions have been invested in Libya. Gaddafi, his family and acolytes have amassed unimaginable wealth. But ordinary Libyans live in poverty. And Libya remains a murderous police state. Any opposition to Gadaffi is brutally repressed. Torture and murder are a way of life for Gaddafi's secret police. But the "international community" doesn't care about that, as long as it can get at Libya's oil and gas.
70 years ago Germany attacked Poland triggering a world war that would take the lives of 50 million people and change the cause of world history. The legacy of this war (end of empire, cold war) is still around. The war only came about as a result of the "international community's" appeasement of Fascist tyranny. They allowed the Fascists to do as they please (Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia) as long as they didn't affect their "interests". Only when the Fascists threatened their interests did they react but by then the only way stop them was war. Never forget that the Allies didn't go to war to rescue the Poles, nor the Jews. They only went to war because the Fascists' imperial ambitions threatened the Allies' empires.
40 years ago Mad Dog Gaddafi staged a coup in Libya, heralding decades of tyranny for the Libyan people. For many years Libya was a pariah state, accused of supporting international terrorism. After 9/11, realising the winds of change, Gadaffi renounced terrorism. He immediately became the darling of the "international community". World leaders, with multinationals in tow, soon descended on Libya, eager to exploit Libya's natural wealth. Hundreds of billions have been invested in Libya. Gaddafi, his family and acolytes have amassed unimaginable wealth. But ordinary Libyans live in poverty. And Libya remains a murderous police state. Any opposition to Gadaffi is brutally repressed. Torture and murder are a way of life for Gaddafi's secret police. But the "international community" doesn't care about that, as long as it can get at Libya's oil and gas.
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