An article or rather blog was written by Ms. Huffington. The gracious lady with the red hair and strong greek accent. You know the one - who doesn´t? (if you don´t - check out www.huffingtonpost.com) While her intentions are admirable, I often don´t understand why some comments are rejected. Really, I was in agreement with her and think my post clearly reflects that. Yet, my comment was "declined" which I find a bit strange. Whatever. Their filtering system, it seems, tends to be biased and inconsistent at times.
below the link to her blog - its about the issue of past illegal torture that was conducted in the name of the United States and what Obama should do about it during his administration.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/memo-to-obama-moving-forw_b_157563.html
My comment:
The past is part of the future. The "past" is not some separate entity that is magically cut free from the "future" when the new guy comes in, just because he has principles and integrity. And while the past can´t be changed, it has to be dealt with in a redeeming manner. As the saying goes, its not how we fall, its how we get back up.
If Obama does not appoint a committee to investigate and, if necessary, punish to the fullest extent of the law, somebody outside our country will - under international law, its possible. * We want to restore our standing in the world? As upholders of freedom, human rights and true change? Then we have to pursue this.
If these crimes are not investigated, then we are not better than all those who just stood by and did nothing to stop one of the most horrific events in history. Its like using the Nuernberg trial defense style: "hey I was just doing my duty, following orders." Or some: "yeah, I knew about it, but didn´t want to rock the boat."
The time has come to rock the boat. What kind of message would Obama send if he lets anyone - be it the former president or the people following orders - get away with it?
Are crimes against humanity just going to be overlooked? We are the first to raise our hands and express justified indignity and outrage, when it happens in other countries. But its time we looked at our own front doorstep as well. And until we do, and face up to this, America´s reputation will not be truly redeemed.
Yes, there are huge problems facing this country. But the economic crisis cannot excuse these atrocities that were committed in the name of the United States.
The United States has a tradition of being the moral and ideological beacon of the world - for at least 233 years now (ok, well, minus 8 bushed years plus a few more here and there....McCarthy....Nixon...) Sounds corny, but its true and will remain a truism despite shifting economic clout.
And yes, its has been badly tarnished these past eight years. That - to a large extent - was what made people the world over so incredibly angry, frustrated and appalled. Now, it is up to Obama and us, the citizens of this country, to look forward and move forward. This can only be done with honesty and dignity by expressly and authoriatively seeking out, holding those responsible and accountable for this ginormous shadow cloud thing. It will hang around till we do something about it.
Or, are we going down the road of a whole new line of defense:
"Judge, I committed a couple of crimes, but hey lets just look to the future. I promise - I won´t do it again."
On that note, why not just let all criminals go? You know, if their promise is convincing enough after they take the convince-o-meter test.
* a day after Obama was sworn in as our 44th president, Manfred Novak - UN human rights commisson special investigator on torture appeared on German tv. The message of his comment was this: since the US signed the agreement - UN convention of torture (which includes the mandate to prosecute individuals of countries who violate this treaty and does not have to wait for domestic remedies) , it is their duty to pursue and unveil any possible war crimes that have been committed. Having signed that agreement, it also means the UN could start investigations of its own accord. Any member country could recommend investigations into possible war crimes. Novak mentioned Rumsfeld and Bush.
To read full article: http://prorev.com/2009/01/un-official-calls-for-prosecution-of.html
1 comment:
Yeah,
Huffpost has filters and moderation which stops as much common sense from being posted, as it stops spam.
You can spend ten minutes composing a perfectly good post which says nothing contraversial and offends nobody, only to see it vanish in the censorship.
Ariana's own posts are especially well moderated. Unless you basically gush about what a great writer she is you can expect to be filtered... even if you actually agree.
None of my posts to her blogs have ever appeared so I have bee trained not to bother even reading her crap because I cannot respond with thoughtful comments.
And as for what you wrote: I tried to, but I could not agree more!
Post a Comment