We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. --That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

 

THE reports have been emerging only slowly, but they are chilling. American intelligence agents have been torturing terrorist suspects, or engaging in practices pretty close to torture. They have also been handing over suspects to countries, such as Egypt, whose intelligence agencies have a reputation for brutality.

The Economist, Jan 9th 2003

 

"Despite many requests, we are still denied access to Bagram and Guantánamo Bay prisons and once again we call upon US government to address Amnesty International's concerns about the detainees", the organization added.

"In addition, we call for a full, impartial inquiry into allegations of torture and ill-treatment by US personnel against alleged al-Qa'ida and Taleban detainees held in US Air Base in Bagram, Afghanistan".

News Release, Amnesty International: 25 March 2003

 

 

"...While drawing a line between the ten civilian deaths that would be acceptable and the 10,000 that wouldn't is difficult and distasteful, it seems that those inflicted thus far are at the tolerable end of that spectrum..."     

The Economist, April 12th 2003

 

"You know nothing at all. You do not use your judgement. It is indeed fitting and right that one man should die for the people than that the whole nation should be destroyed."

Caiaphas, John, 11:50

 

David Aufhouser, General Counsel to the US Treasury Department: "There is no excuse for giving money to kill people."

The Economist, March 15th 2003

 

Thomas Hazlett: "Before leaving the list of efficacious government enterprises, one should not miss the most obvious and proud State ability, namely, the exercise of killing large numbers of people in short periods of time within basically stationary geographical boundaries."

Reason, July 1977

 

American troops opened fire on protesters in Falouja, a town near Baghdad, killing 13 people. When residents protested against these deaths, the Americans fired again, killing at least two more. American soldiers were then injured in a grenade attack.

The Economist, May 3rd, 2003

 

 

We begin tonight with more violence and more kidnappings in Iraq. A car bomb exploded in the city of...

CBS Evening News, June 27, 2004

 

I'm gonna do it the way I think is necessary. I'm gonna set a vision. I will lead. And we'll just let the chips fall where they may.

George W. Bush, June 27, 2004

 

 

Mr. Allawi's team want to be seen to be up to the job; this is not, they believe, a time for soft talk. The justice minister has called for the revival of the death penalty, the defence minister has promised personally to cut off rebels' hands and heads...

The Economist, June 26th, 2004

 

Iyad Allawi ... is seen as tough; "our kind of bully", as a State Department hand describes him.

The Economist, June 26th, 2004

 Abu Ghraib. Guantánamo, Bagram. Torture, humiliation, murder. Baghdad, Riyadh, Fallujah. Torture, humiliation, murder. Civilians killed. Beheadings and bullets and suicide bombers.

 

   "Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.

   "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?

   "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.

  "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.

   "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

   "So then, you will know them by their fruits.

Matthew 7: 15-20

 How do the fruits of the insurgents and terrorists differ from those of the Coalition?

 

 

Il fine giustifica i mezzi

Italian proverb

 

If the Government becomes a lawbreaker, it breeds contempt for law; it invites every man to become a law unto himself; it invites anarchy. To declare that in the administration of the criminal law the end justifies the means - to declare that the Government may commit crimes in order to secure the conviction of a private criminal - would bring terrible retribution.

Louis Brandeis (1856 - 1941)

 

The first sign of corruption in a society that is still alive is that the end justifies the means.

La liberté, pour quoi faire Georges Bernanos (1888 - 1948)

If one cherishes fundamental human rights and rejects the notion that the end justifies the means, then one can only condemn 9/11, the Spanish trains, the beheadings, the suicide bombers. One can only be appalled by the use of torture and humiliation, the undermining of law, the maiming and killing of innocent civilians, the willingness to put people in harm's way. For no end can justify these horrors. One cannot secure rights by violating them.

What are the ends of the various belligerents? Oil? Liberation? An end to suffering? Securing the rights of people? If so, then one must marvel at the sheer incompetence of the Administration. One cannot secure rights by violating them. One can't even keep the oil flowing.

Or is the end here always and only revenge? The present loss of interest in Afghanistan leads me to believe that it is.

The present government of the United States shares with al-Qaida a moral code based on the principle that the end justifies the means. For both, fundamental human rights are irrelevant. And we'll just let the chips fall where they may.

What a depressing thought.