U.S. Violates Human Rights

New photos were released today of atrocities at Abu Ghraib. These pictures are in reality the documentation of war crimes as they are taking place. They provide evidence to the double standards that the United States has assigned to nearly all treaties and conventions that it enters into. Everything from NAFTA to the Geneva Convention, which is most glaring considering the state of the world today.

So as I sit down for my morning coffee and paper, I catch this story. David Irving's previous denial of the existence of gas chambers in concentration camps at Auschwitz is being punished with jail time, 3 years to be exact. The irony strikes me like a blow. Here is David Irving, doing time, while many other more high profile professionals, politicians and world leaders, those to whom we look for guidance, continually denying any wrong doing on their parts in other atocities around the world.

The United States itself, when it isn't misinforming its constituents, is making up excuses that are to serve as a justification for their reproach for world collaberation, when it does not serve the immediate interest of those in power.

Vietnam, Iraq and I dare say even the atomic bombs dropped on Nagasaki and Hiroshima are examples of this.

There is an international forum that is meant to prosecute those leaders who engage in inhumane actions, torture and other war crimes. This World International Criminal Court, The Hague, will in itself only be supported by the United States, as long as they remain exempt. This position in of itself admits guilt of war crimes past, present, and those to come.

The United States remains the world's most powerful country because of their ability to make or break a country, whether that be economically or with armed conflict. As in most cases, if they do admit to error there is they are generally able to come up with an excuse good enough to apparently justifies death and torture of innocent people.

Just look for yourself:

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol 1)
Adopted on 8 June 1977 by the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law applicable in Armed Conflicts; entered into force 7 December 1979

Article 35 paragraph 3

It is prohibited to employ methods or means of warfare which are intended, or may be expected, to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment.

Article 51 paragraphs 1, 2, 4 and 5 (excerpts)

The civilian population and individual civilians shall enjoy general protection against dangers arising from military operations.

[C]ivilians shall not be the object of attack. Acts or threats of violence the primary purpose of which is to spread terror among the civilian population are prohibited.
Indiscriminate attacks are prohibited, [including an] attack which may be expected to cause incidental loss of civilian life, injury to civilians, damage to civilian objects, or a combination thereof, which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage anticipated.

Furthermore, even McCarthyism is still practiced to this day, although the guise under which it operates has taken many other titles through the years, more and more patriotic in nature.

Today, HomeLand Security has taken over this role under the guise of weeding out the terrorists. The September 11th bombing of the world trade center was in many ways welcome to the current U.S. administration, for it has allowed not only for abuse of power overseas and against the citizens of numerous countries, but within its own borders and against its own citizens as well. Such horrific events stun nations, and leave them emotionally helpless and fearful, and therefore, subject to manipulation, coercion and the will of those who hold power.

The same people that disapprove of actions and words that attempt to downplay such horrors of the past, fail to acknowledge the inhumanities of today, ones that they themselves are instigating, let alone downplaying the injustices and murder that they were involved in, in times past.