By Brigitte L. Nacos
This weekend, during her latest trip to the Middle East, Secretary
of State Condoleezza Rice criticized the Egyptian government’s proposed
constitutional amendments which, as Glenn
Kessler reports in the Washington Post, “will limit opposition parties,
suspend judicial supervision of elections and enshrine sweeping police powers”
according to human rights groups. Egyptian Foreign Minister Gheit labeled Dr.
Rice’s remarks as “interference” and President Mubarak “rejected the criticism,
saying his government would not bend to outside "pressure, dictation or
prerequisites." Were it not for the Bush administration’s violations of
civil liberties, basic rules of the game in the American system of governance,
and internationally recognized human rights, Dr. Rice’s words would have
credibility and weight—not so much amongst the targets of this sort of
criticism but at home and in democracies abroad. As it stands, the Bush
administration’s conduct and exploitation of the so-called “war on terrorism”
or ill-labeled “war on terror” has elevated “these three words into a national
mantra,” as former National Security Advisor Zbigniew
Brzezinski puts it, “and has had a pernicious impact on American democracy,
on America's psyche and on U.S.standing
in the world.” In other words, the administration’s overreaction to 9/11 and
the many excesses in so-called anti- and counterterrorist measures have
diminished America’s
moral high ground as beacon of democracy. Brzezinski is right when he argues
that the administration has fostered a culture of fear in the years after 9/11
and that such a “culture of fear is like a genie that has been let out of its
bottle. It acquires a life of its own…”
Just think of the administration’s surveillance of American
citizens’ communications and records, whether phone calls, Internet
communication, bank transactions, or library records. Where have we come to,
when students wonder whether they should use the Internet as they search for
documents and books and other material for research papers in a course on
violence and terrorism?
Karen De Young reports today on the massive growth of the U.S.government’s data base TIDE (Terrorist Identities Datamart Environment) in the last several years and that it raises “concerns about secrecy, errors and privacy.” Combing the names of citizens and foreigners, the “bar for inclusion is low, and once someone is on the list, it is virtually impossible to get off it.” We do know that “errors” have led to real horror stories and the unspeakable treatment of innocent persons. Thus, Maher Arar, a Canadian born in Syria, was arrested in 2002 at Kennedy airport on his flight from Montreal to Syria. He became a victim of the government’s “extraordinary rendition” practices, handed over to Syrian authorities and was subjected to “aggressive interrogation” or, in plain English, torture.Responsible for the original information, Canadian authorities cleared Arar of any connection to terrorists or terrorism and “awarded” him $9 million in compensation. As De Young reports, he is still on the U.S. data base of terrorism suspects!
As for the interrogation of "enemy combatants" by the C.I.A., Congress left the drafting of rules to the President and his administration. According to today's New York Times, "When President Bush signed the Military Commissions Act last October, the White House released a statement calling the C.I.A. detention program “one of the most successful intelligence efforts in American history.” The new authority, Mr. Bush said, will “ensure that we can continue using this vital tool to protect the American people for years to come.” The statement left no doubt that nothing would fundamentally change with respect to "aggressive interrogations."
Greetings Comrade!
We've been protesting the Military Commissions Act since October. If you're interested in joining us, find out more at http://ministryoflove.wordpress.com
Regards,
O'Brien
Posted by: Comrade O'Brien | April 01, 2007 at 10:26 PM