Deals with the devil Quote:
One of the sad byproducts of the Bush administration's so-called war on terror is how torture and abuse of human rights has become official U.S. policy.
Human Rights Watch released its annual report on global human rights abuse this week. The group has accused the United States and its allies of working to undermine international protections against torture as part of the fight against terrorism.
"Fighting terrorism is central to the human rights cause," said Human Rights Watch Executive Director Kenneth Roth. "But using illegal tactics against alleged terrorists is both wrong and counterproductive."
Roth said the illegal tactics fuel resentment and, as we've seen in Iraq, act as a recruiting tool for terrorist groups.
But it's more than just the acts and policies of the United States at issue. When this nation chooses to ignore human rights, it makes it easier for other nations to do the same. Take the particularly noxious example of Uzbekistan, a former Soviet republic in Central Asia with a reputation for having one of the most totalitarian regimes in the world. Because of the combination of Uzbekistan's proximity to Afghanistan and its huge reserves of natural gas, the United States chose to overlook what the United Nations called "widespread and systemic" torture.
But here's the kicker. The U.S. gave Karimov all that money in hopes of getting access to Uzbek natural gas. But Karimov instead cut an even better deal with the Russian government. Karimov then booted out the Americans. Dictators, after all, don't play by the same rules as others.
This is how the war on terror is being waged. The Bush administration defies international law and enters into alliances with some of the most unsavory regimes in the world, yet claims it is spreading freedom and democracy and that it respects human rights. This hypocrisy cannot be allowed to continue.
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In the 1950 and 60s, after helping to overthrow the elected government, the CIA helped train the Savak, the Shah of Iran's secret police, in torture. In the 1980s, the US envoy Rumsfeld and others assisted Saddam with military aid and intel and the US vetoed United Nations moves to condemn Iraq for using chemical weapons. In the 2003 while self righteously talking about democracy and liberation, the US paid Uzbekistan, a country with one of the worst human rights records in the world, over $1 billion for basing rights and as an inducement to allow US exploration for natural gas. Of course the Uzbeks still kicked us out.
I can't help but wonder how long we will continue to make deals with dictators and despots for short term gains, that always seem to backfire and leave us in worse shape than when we started. How long will we make deals with the devil?