American War Crimes
To be showcased by star chamber proceedings for freedom fighters trapped in Kafkaesque American gulag. Nicholas Kristof, NYT op-ed:
The most famous journalist you may never have heard of is Sami al-Hajj, an Al Jazeera cameraman who is on a hunger strike to protest abuse during more than six years in a Kafkaesque prison system.
Mr. Hajj’s fortitude has turned him into a household name in the Arab world, and his story is sowing anger at the authorities holding him without trial.
That’s us. Mr. Hajj is one of our forgotten prisoners in Guantánamo Bay.
If the Bush administration appointed an Under Secretary of State for Antagonizing the Islamic World, with advice from a Blue Ribbon Commission for Sullying America’s Image, it couldn’t have done a more systematic job of discrediting our reputation around the globe. Instead of using American political capital to push for peace in the Middle East or Darfur, it is using it to force-feed Mr. Hajj.
President Bush is now moving forward with plans to try six Guantánamo prisoners before a military tribunal, rather than hold a regular trial. That will call new attention to abuses in Guantánamo and sow more anti-Americanism around the world.
Actually, I believe the criminal Bush administration is using political capital to push for Mideast peace, with unfortunate results: They have managed to sideline the freedom fighters of Hamas and get numerous erstwhile hostile Arab regimes to sit down with the Zionist entity.
But back to the matter at hand. Kristof’s denunciation of Bushian star chamber proceedings, on reflection, raises the important moral question of why the FDR and Truman administrations were allowed by a compliant press to get away with tribunals for German and Japanese freedom fighters. May explain however why 60 years later, we have such a bad reputation in Europe.
Kristof himself raises another good question:
Suppose the Iranian government arrested and beat Katie Couric, held her virtually incommunicado for six years and promised to release her only if she would spy for Iran. In such circumstances, Iranian investments in public diplomacy toward the United States wouldn’t get very far, either.
Fun game. I can top that. Suppose the Iranian government seized the United States embassy and 66 U.S. government employees, in defiance of international law, and held them for 444 days, went on to sponsor murderous acts of terrorism that have killed hundreds of American soldiers, sailors and Marines from Lebanon to Iraq, had its proxy abduct a number of western journalists and hold them for years, etc., etc. Iranian investments in public diplomacy toward the United States wouldn’t get very far, either.
Here’s another one. Suppose al Qaeda hijacked airplanes and flew them into office buildings full of innocent people, abducted journalists and sawed their heads off on video, duped retarded women into carrying explosives into marketplaces, and got al Jazeera to yap on about American war crimes and play lots of al Qaeda propaganda, and then the Americans picked up a journalist on his way to Afghanistan in December of 2001 who appears to have had a history of closely associating with and assisting terrorists?
It’s a fascinating exercise, but back to Mr. Hajj and his confinement.
Mr. Hajj began his hunger strike more than a year ago, so twice daily he is strapped down and a tube is wound up his nose and down his throat to his stomach. Sometimes a lubricant is used, and sometimes it isn’t, so his throat and nose have been rubbed raw. Sometimes a tube still bloody from another hunger striker is used, his lawyers say.
He still has a throat? He gets food? What kind of incompetent war criminals are these Americans?
“It’s really a regime to make it as painful and difficult as possible,” said one of his lawyers, Zachary Katznelson.
I’m not a lawyer, but I may have a solution to that problem. Eat.
Mr. Hajj cannot bend his knees because of abuse he received soon after his arrest, yet the toilet chair he was prescribed was removed — making it excruciating for him to use the remaining squat toilet. He is allowed a Koran, but his glasses were confiscated so he cannot read it.
Hold on, I thought the Korans were all flushed down the toilets at Guantanamo. Anyway, apparently in addition to declining to eat, Mr. Hajj has also declined to challenge his status as an enemy combatant or his continued detention. So, principled, stubborn journalist or jihadi? Here is the wiki summary of allegations; if any of this is true, then it sounds like the journalism, activism might have got muddled.
Prior re American gulag star chamber proceedings:
Malkin’s most recent Gitmology here.
Topics: GWOT
Posted by Jules Crittenden at 8:00 am on Thursday, February 14, 2008
10 Responses to “American War Crimes”
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February 14th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Senate votes to limit interrogation techniques, Obama and Hillary can’t be bothered to show up
Gateway Pundit has the details on the Senate vote that narrowly passed Wednesday on a bill that bans an interrogation technique called “waterboarding” - a technique that, as GP notes, has saved lives.
The President is expected to veto the b…
February 14th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Senate votes to limit interrogation techniques, Obama and Hillary can’t be bothered to show up
Gateway Pundit has the details on the Senate vote that narrowly passed Wednesday on a bill that bans an interrogation technique called “waterboarding” - a technique that, as GP notes, has saved lives.
The President is expected to veto the b…
February 14th, 2008 at 9:50 am
Boo hoo, Mr. Hajj. Boo freakin’ hoo.
February 14th, 2008 at 10:50 am
“al-Hajj” is a title, not a name. “The Pilgrim”.
February 14th, 2008 at 1:26 pm
“Suppose the Iranian government arrested and beat Katie Couric, held her virtually incommunicado for six years…”
It’s too late for the mad mullahs to try to appease us by performing humanitarian deeds.
“Suppose the Iranian government seized the United States embassy and 66 U.S. government employees, in defiance of international law, and held them for 444 days, went on to sponsor murderous acts of terrorism that have killed hundreds of American soldiers, sailors and Marines from Lebanon to Iraq, had its proxy abduct a number of western journalists and hold them for years, etc., etc.”
If Carter, Reagan, Bush, Clinton, Bush are presidents we register a strong protest, and then crawl on our bellies in the name of peace and basically take no action for fear of offending the sensitive Muslims…who then proceed to kill us anyway. If Dave Surls is president low yield nuclear devices mysteriously go off in the Bekka Valley and in downtown Tehran.
February 14th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
“Mr. Hajj’s fortitude has turned him into a household name in the Arab world, and his story is sowing anger at the authorities holding him without trial.”
Asia Cottom and Zoe Falkenberg were two little American girls who were riding on airplanes on 9/11/01 when they were murdered in cold blood by Al Qaida ending any possibility that they would grow up to display fortitude or any other quality. Their story isn’t told, because traitor propagandists for Al Qaida (like Nicky Kristof) are too busy moaning and bitching about the fate of other Al Qaida propagandists (like Sami al-Hajj) to bother telling it.
Al Qaida doesn’t have to worry about Asia Cottom becoming a household name, and her murder won’t generate any anger at Al Qaida because our media can’t be arsed with mentioning her. If they ran stories on little American girls killed by terrorists day after day after day, and made their names famous the way they’ve made Al Qaida trash like David Hicks famous, it might distract attention away from the leftist media’s pro-terrorist/anti-Bush propaganda campaign.
Kristof is scum…and so is 99% of the American media.
February 14th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Mr. Hajj cannot bend his knees because of abuse he received soon after his arrest, yet the toilet chair he was prescribed was removed — making it excruciating for him to use the remaining squat toilet. He is allowed a Koran, but his glasses were confiscated so he cannot read it.
Is this “abuse” on the same order as the Australian David Hicks’ “torture” and “starvation” (who, btw, finally waddled off home)? Come on, Zack, tell us another one.
February 14th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I think that it is terrible that we are torturing the hajji by feeding him through the nose. Let him achieve paradise by not eating.
One clue as to the validity of these fairy tales: the repeated use of the phrase “his lawyers say”.
When you start believing things lawyers say, you should be drummed out of the journalists union.
February 15th, 2008 at 6:19 am
Oh I like the bit about reusing the bloody feeding tubes of other starving action heroes. That’s a nice touch, his lawyers say.
February 16th, 2008 at 11:48 pm
I’ve quoted you and linked to you here: http://consul-at-arms.blogspot.com/2008/02/re-american-war-crimes.html