GRANTING IMMUNITY JUST MAKES US LOOK WORSE
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistWe all saw this one coming.
I mean–after all–the US government is
always looking out for its movers and shakers–even if the majority of them are scum and corrupt to the core.
Why should it matter if it’s just some lawless mercs? Nothing’s wrong with that, right?
Condoleezza Rice says that the Blackwater gang is desperately needed to protect US diplomats and other high-target officials in a war zone.
The head of the security company claims that no one died under their tenure.
So why the
secret deal to grant these killers immunity–from killing Iraqi civilians out of spite?
Doesn’t the State Department realize that it’s damning itself by doing so and impeding a federal investigation into the criminal acts by these barbarous individuals who care little for human life–except for the almighty dollar?
And how will granting immunity portray the US’s old desire for truth and justice?
I seem to recall a time when our nation stood for that: Truth, Justice, and the American Way.
With the war on terror, I guess that no longer matters.
Everybody has their price these days. Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.com
Labels: blackwater, immunity, Iraqi civilians, justice, money, price, Rice, State Department, truth
MURDEROUS ACTS ARE BECOMING A BLACK EYE FOR U.S. FOREIGN POLICY
By Schuyler ThorpeAuthor and Political ActivistLast weekend, a notorious security firm called Blackwater alleged to have killed as many as 20 Iraqis–in what they claimed was a firefight with supposed insurgents; following a car bomb explosion.
As sensational as this seems, there has been some serious deception on Blackwater’s part–a trend which befits their infamous reputation as the military’s “Dirty Harry” apparat.
These people were hired by the U.S.
government to provide security for the diplomat entourages coming in and out of Iraq.
But their dirty little secret had remained in contention over the tactics upon which they used to carry out their jobs:
Firing at Iraqi civilians out of spite, having a complete disregard for the people and their culture, sharing an equal disdain for authority and the Iraqi people, and completely acting out of sheer recklessness.
And now it shows. They claimed to have been fired upon first, but a tape appropriated by the Iraqi government clearly shows Blackwater’s security henchmen firing
unprovoked on unarmed civilians trying to escape and flee their fire.
Does it come as no surprise that Bush recently sidestepped any questions regarding Blackwater and their latest acts of attrition towards the Iraqis?
Because he had a hand in approving the hiring of these mercenary thugs. That's why.
But this debacle doesn’t end there.
In 2004, the US-led coalition passed an amendment which gives
complete immunity to all security firms and US forces–in the event that they indeed killed Iraqi civilians in the same manner they conducted themselves in the Abu Ghraib escapade in 2004 and the Haditha massacre in 2005.
This clears them of any wrongdoing. The perfect “escape clause” from which they freely and openly admitted committed crimes against the Iraqi populace.
Why?
In light of a recent conviction of a 22-year-old Marine involved in the killing of an Iraq civilian in Hamdania in April of 2006, Robert Pennington expressed his squad’s frustration that they could not find a suspected insurgent.
In fact, the murderous act went far deeper than that:
Many combat troops felt that too many insurgents were escaping the justice that they claimed to deserve.
Hence the plot to kill the unarmed man and make it look like he was their man.
Their suspected insurgent.And Blackwater is no different.
The problem is that both the security firms and our military has now deemed the Iraqi people as being nothing more than a minor annoyance in their continued occupation of their country-
not human beings.
So it has become their mission in life to see that this
annoyance is dealt with swiftly and with murderous intent.
Regardless of the consequences for our nation’s future.
Schuyler Thorpe is an author, a political activist, and a frequent letter writer to The Everett Herald of Snohomish County. He can be reached at: starchildalpha1 at yahoo.comLabels: Abu Ghraib, blackwater, Haditha, Iraqi civilians, Iraqis, murdered, troops
