Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Pacifica Commentary for January 25, 2006
Liberty and Justice for All
You be the judge. Here comes a Chief Warrant Officer to take charge of a prisoner, Iraqi Major General Abed Hamed Mowhoush. First the general is beaten for 30 minutes, then he is held down and water is poured in his face, then the general was stuffed into a sleeping bag by the Chief Warrant Officer who then wraps the bag with electrical wire and sits on his chest for 20 minutes. The general dies.
The case is heard at Fort Carson, Colorado by a military court. There is no jail time for the Warrant Officer but he must spend the next 60 days on vacation at his home, his office or his church.
Now on the same day, Daniel Burns, a non-violent protester was sentenced to six months in prison for spattering some of his blood at a military recruiting center to oppose the outset of the looming disastrous war in Iraq.
Three more of these St. Patrick's Four who poured blood at the recruiting center on March 17, 2003, will be sentenced this week. We expect them to receive the same six-month sentence.
Just what is the message here? Let our children understand. If you are a good robot, follow orders, and torture one of our enemies to death, you will receive no jail time. If, on the other hand, you face an approaching evil and attempt to identify it by classic non-violent and prophetic action, you will be declared an enemy of the state and given a severe prison sentence.
The St. Patrick Four have made a very important statement to the people of the United States. They made a necessary statement of opposition to a war that is now known to be both illegal and immoral. It is a war which represents a major moral and political defeat for the United States.
And our lying administration continues to say, "We don't torture." The same anti-intellectual and ahistorical elements that freed the warrant officer who was "just following orders" are now involved in a campaign to demonize Islam as an evil religion. Opportunists clothed as intellectuals from all over the country are quickly jumping on this lucrative bandwagon.
So now do you understand that we are really torturing the devil? Please repeat after me, "We are torturing the devil!" And if you refuse to repeat that, we have approved ways of dealing with you.
You be the judge. Here comes a Chief Warrant Officer to take charge of a prisoner, Iraqi Major General Abed Hamed Mowhoush. First the general is beaten for 30 minutes, then he is held down and water is poured in his face, then the general was stuffed into a sleeping bag by the Chief Warrant Officer who then wraps the bag with electrical wire and sits on his chest for 20 minutes. The general dies.
The case is heard at Fort Carson, Colorado by a military court. There is no jail time for the Warrant Officer but he must spend the next 60 days on vacation at his home, his office or his church.
Now on the same day, Daniel Burns, a non-violent protester was sentenced to six months in prison for spattering some of his blood at a military recruiting center to oppose the outset of the looming disastrous war in Iraq.
Three more of these St. Patrick's Four who poured blood at the recruiting center on March 17, 2003, will be sentenced this week. We expect them to receive the same six-month sentence.
Just what is the message here? Let our children understand. If you are a good robot, follow orders, and torture one of our enemies to death, you will receive no jail time. If, on the other hand, you face an approaching evil and attempt to identify it by classic non-violent and prophetic action, you will be declared an enemy of the state and given a severe prison sentence.
The St. Patrick Four have made a very important statement to the people of the United States. They made a necessary statement of opposition to a war that is now known to be both illegal and immoral. It is a war which represents a major moral and political defeat for the United States.
And our lying administration continues to say, "We don't torture." The same anti-intellectual and ahistorical elements that freed the warrant officer who was "just following orders" are now involved in a campaign to demonize Islam as an evil religion. Opportunists clothed as intellectuals from all over the country are quickly jumping on this lucrative bandwagon.
So now do you understand that we are really torturing the devil? Please repeat after me, "We are torturing the devil!" And if you refuse to repeat that, we have approved ways of dealing with you.
