WHEN CRIMINALS IMPOSE THE LAW

WHEN CRIMINALS IMPOSE THE LAW

            The United States has been violating international law for years now, invading Vietnam, running its proxy war against Nicaragua, trying repeatedly to assassinate Fidel Castro, invading Grenada, bombing Libya.

            Chelsea Manning revealed American war crimes in Afghanista, and instead of prosecuting the murderers the United States tried—and convicted—Manning.  In fact, he was convicted before he was even brought to trial, before his months and months of torture at Quantico began:  President Obama declared that Manning had “broken the law.”  The American news media reported this statement—and the President didn’t even bother to deny he had said it.

            For the past month, the United States has been trying to trap William Snowden, who has revealed more American crimes:  this time, egregious electronic spying.  Does the United States apologise?  Of course not.  Instead, it bullies everybody in the world to try to get its hands on Snowden.

            “We won’t execute him,” the United States government officials promise.  No, but they might send him to their illegal concentration camp at Guantanamo, and torture him for the rest of his life.

            And now the United States is threatening Syria.  According to the Americans, the Syrians  may have used poison gas on dissidents—whom the United States supports.

            The United States has used nuclear weapons (twice), and napalm (for five years) in Vietnam.  Lieutenant William Calley ordered his platoon to kill all the people in the Vietnamese village of My Lai—and led his troops in doing it; and though he was court-martialed and convicted of mass murder, he was released and allowed to go home.  Henry Kissinger and Richard Nixon did a month’s saturation bombing of Cambodia  for Christmas of 1972.  In 1992 the United States buried hundreds of Iraqi soldiers alive in the desert sand (General Colin Powell ordered that).  And in the Americans’ current (and continuing) war in Afghanistan and Pakistan, they use drones to kill people—who are always reported to have been “enemy combatants.”

            Sure.  The whole world is America’s enemy.  The line runs straight from  Athens to Rome to the United States.  Gengis Kahn, Napoleon, Hitler, Hirohito—they were all minor megalomaniacs.  But  Athens and Rome—at their worst—are the only rivals to the United States.

            And President Obama wants to attack Syria.