Dehumanization
There are indications that the Colombian army appropriated the International Committee of the Red Cross symbol in its rescue of Ingrid Betancourt and the American hostages held by FARC.
“Such a use of the Red Cross emblem could constitute a ‘war crime’ under the Geneva Conventions and international humanitarian law and could endanger humanitarian workers in the future, according to international legal expert Mark Ellis, executive director of the International Bar Association.” (CNN)
After listening to a “Fresh Air” podcast this morning interviewing The New Yorker’s Jane Mayer on her new book The Dark Side, which outlines how the
I get that I am talking about two slightly different things, but are they really all that different? Hamas entering Israel in trucks marked “TV” or “Press” in order to set off bombs; is that really so different from the U.S. using declarations of self-protection to justify torture of “enemy combatants”? Aren’t the good guys and the bad guys just getting all confused? Using the cloak of American righteousness…is it all that different from plastering your helicopter with Red Cross symbols and airlifting hostages out of a jungle?
Yes and no. One is an act of obvious subversion. The other is a twisted form of self-delusion. Both, in any case, take the concept of human rights and swing it around until it is little more than a knotted mess of misery.
posted by TK @ 10:52
4 comments
4 Comments:
While the one nervous individual shouldn't have used the IRC logo, I wonder who the freed hostages would say the "good guys" are and who are the "bad guys"?
interesting to note that FARC has apparently used the same logo in the past in order to transport its guerillas. it's an equal opportunity ruse.
Go live in the middle east for a while, then come back to the US, go into your air-conditioned house after heading to the 24hr gormet grocery for some goodies, grumble for a sec about gas prices, then safely hit the sack with your Bmr in the garage, kids tucked comfy in bed so you can go in to work early the next day to get a few extra things done for your 40-80K. Then ask yourself again, "Who are the real bad guys?" Of course the US does bad things, but give me a break. Blogo-philosophs wax idiotic too often. Military tactics, stategies and psuedo-philosphies fall off a cliff ethically not too far down the path of debate- ie. blow his head off on the battle field and it's OK, hold him prisoner and stress him to the max / torture in creative new, less lethal and less barbaric ways, and the Lefties will knock themselves silly while jumping ship, holering "war crimes". War is always a moral crime, but see how far you get as a pacifist on this planet- thanks to the good women and men of the armed services for not being chicken to do the hard, awful, sacrificial work that some weasels won't. One more mod. dem voting for McCain.
Dude, let me clear up the image for you. Palestinian scum pretending to be health workers, press or any other neutral party in order to gain access to civilian areas where they can then detonate a bomb that is expressly designed to maximize damage to human flesh is bad. The US choosing to deprive a known terrorist of sleep in order to gain intel that could potentially save hundreds, thousands or more is good. Do you also need me to draw a picture? The terrorists are not being tortured by any stretch of the imagination unless you are a true leftist pacifist who believes that pulling the petals off of flowers is equal to the atrocities committed by the Nazis.
Compare what they do with what we do. Compare their intent with out intent.
The difference is night and day.
Post a Comment
<< Home