(Photo of Ingrid Betancourt, French-Colombian held hostage by FARC in Colombia)Prezident George W. Bush has thumbed his nose publicly at the rules laid down by the Geneva Conventions. Torture? Against the Geneva Conventions? To hell with the Geneva Conventions; we'll torture if we wish!
George W. Bush is supposed to be the leader of the largest democracy in the world. George W. Bush is expected to set an example for other leaders around the world. George W. Bush fails on all counts. George W. Bush has made a mockery of leadership, of democracy, and of the Geneva Conventions!
So, it isn't surprising that those folks down in Colombia, who freed 15 captives from Marxist Guerillas, decided to ignore the Geneva Conventions? President Alvaro Uribe claims it was a mistake and he "regrets that this occurred."
Sure he does.
Not that we're not happy with the rescue of these folks who have been held for six years by the Leaders of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). And the story of the rescue is exciting as FARC was tricked into setting the hostages free.
Hey, anything's fair in love and war, right? About almost anything? How about having one of the rescuers dress up as a Red Cross worker?
Well, that's the problem. For military personnel to pretend they are members of the Red Cross is a huge no-no because "it could put humanitarian workers at risk when they are in war zones."
Or as Yves Heller, a spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Colombia, said, "Parties to the conflict must respect the Red Cross emblem at all times and under all circumstances."
Back to da Bush. Bush is not going to be circumscribed by no lousy Geneva Conventions! He's the prezident! He can do whatever the hell he feels like doing! And he did. So now we have a situation where if our soldiers are captured by al-Qaeda or if our contractors are captured by insurgents in Iraq, or if NATO soldiers are captured by the Taliban in Afghanistan, they are very likely to be tortured -- perhaps even waterboarded -- because our moron of a prezident did not think he needed to follow international law!
Have you noticed how quiet the Bushites are about Colombia's breach of the Geneva Conventions?
1 comment:
The use of Red Crosses has been violated by the Palestinians use of Red Cross vehicles used to smuggle arms, fighters and suicide bombers into Israel. They have been exposed numerous times in films and by arrests, yet there was never a fuss raised by anyone, event he Red Cross. The same was true with official Church vehicles, occupied by religious leaders, along with arms, money and people going from occupied territories into Israel. That too was not objected to by the media or other governments. Unfortunately, these things go unnoticed usually.
The ends justify the means, is the credo used. Of course, the Red Cross will suffer as it will be suspect now by all sides, everywhere. Any one with a pass thru enemy lines will have to undergo more inspections and many will fail, even though innocent. We live in a world that uses innocents civilians as shields; set up arms caches in religious institutions’,, set up rockets launchers in civilian’s apartments and homes, etc AND GET AWAY WITH IT ON A DAILY BASIS.
I am afraid we saw it darting WW2 when the Nazis used famous monasteries in Italy and the allies did not want to bomb them. It cost many lives for infantry soldiers to eventually capture the sites.
This is not new and will not be the last time such a ruse is used.
Bob Poris
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