Long read, but worth it. Wish the anti-freedom forces who marched yesterday would take time out from their naive, posh suburban lifestyle and read the full thing. The prisoner of Baghdad Saad Hirri I WAS born in a forgettable village, to a very poor family. All but one of the streets was unnamed. The one named street was called Brick Street. My father died when I was two years old, leaving my mother with four young children. It was under these difficult circumstances that I grew up. ... In Iraq all power was concentrated on the president. This was called Act No 42 Part A. It gave him the freedom to do anything, and killed the freedom of the people. An even darker period was to follow - the outbreak of war between Iraq and Iran. For the humane person it was too difficult to stay silent and not speak out against it. When the war started thousands of people in the country were killed in many different ways, or imprisoned for speaking out against the president, for criticising the war, or for being a member of a political party opposed to the government. Even the families of people imprisoned or executed would suffer. Their ages did not matter when it came to terms of punishment. All these executions and injustices made me very bitter and pushed me to join the opposition. I started to paint, expressing my feelings about my people, and put posters on the walls of government buildings in the city. full story
There is an interesting lack of discussion on this thread... I wonder why that is? I guess it is hard to admit that one is taking a position that, if successful, would lead to a continuation of such a brutal regime for years or decades to come.
I haven't read the article yet. I wasn't aware that it's a Politics forum requirement that every link posted must be read and dissected. Is that in the TOS somewhere?
> I guess it is hard to admit that one is taking a > position that, if successful, would lead to a > continuation of such a brutal regime for years or > decades to come. There is torture going on in Zimbabwe. Where is the invasion? There is torture going on in Sierra Leone. Where is the invasion? There is torture going on in Colombia. Where is the invasion? There is torture going on in Bangladesh. Where is the invasion? Visit the Amnesty International or Human Rights Watch or UN web sites for nation after nation that does far worse than this. There is torture even in nations that are helping us in the war against Iraq. There was torture going on in Iraq two decades ago. That didn't stop us from helping them. This has absolutely nothing to do with human rights. To use such an argument is the height of opportunism.
I don't think it's opportunistic, however, to mention that overthrowing a brutal, torturous regime is a nice ancillary benefit.
Let us not forget 60 Minutes' piece on the manner in which the US govt "subcontracts" their torture. That does not make this single case any less serious, but torture is considered an effective and needed tool in order to save lives. While the science of torture can be seen as effective at best or similar to tarot card reading at worst...as a science, it carries too much baggage for "free" people to stomach. Thus, this thread makes a point, but the point is lost in the debate when we can all consider it being used in one manner or another and yes, even by the USA.