"A Fair Verdict ??"

A FAIR VERDICT???

Finally, the world is free from the rule of a bloody tyrant, who did not care for the humanity and only believed in consolidating his own position, and now Mr. George W Bush is free and without any opposition to take over the throne. In response to the execution of Saddam Hussain , Mr. Bush said ” Today Saddam Hussein was executed after receiving a fair trial - the kind of justice he denied the victims of his brutal régime.” A fair trial??

Let us have a look at the proceedings of the fair trial point by point.

1.The Chief Judge trying the Dujali case was forced to resign midway,just because he made a casual observation that Saddam was a capable ruler.
2.Saddam’s lawyers were not allowed to present witness. And those appearing for defence were systematically harassed and three of them were assassinated.
3.The television link of the trial, provided by the US Company edited out the sound of Saddam and the others.
4.Following the accusation by the Shia and Kurdish leaders of lenience towards Saddam, a more acquiescent official was found to play the role of HANGING JUDGE.
5.Prosecuting lawyers were allowed to introduce new evidence without the court allowing the defence to preview it.
6.The presiding judge also had a habit of not allowing the defence to complete its arguments and abruptly ending its proceeding.
7. The United States largely funded Hussein's trial, and U.S. officials close to the trial said Sunday's outcome vindicated the policy of having courts in individual nations try cases involving war crimes and crimes against humanity. The Bush administration has been a leading opponent of international tribunals, fearing that U.S. soldiers could be tried before them for political reasons.

Saddam’s defence team said in a statement that, the “US Liberation Forces” provided millions of dollars to prosecution lawyers to unearth evidence against Saddam , while the defence lawyers were” assassinated, threatened , insulted and displaced out of the country”

All the evidence certainly points to a free, fair and impartial trial. Isn’t it? We do not need to have the brains of a rocket scientist to see that the so-called Iraqi High Tribunal court set up, to try Saddam Hussain for CRIMES AGAINT HUMANITY and all that crap, was all the doing of Uncle Sam. Even the more obvious fact, which the world chooses to dismiss, is that it was the United States and its poodle United Kingdom, which conducted a supreme Crime against Humanity, by invading a sovereign country, going against the United Nation and the entire world itself. Saddam Hussain was sentenced to death for the killings of 148 citizens
of Dujail in a failed assassination attempt on Saddam Hussain. So now, we must wonder
what punishment Mr. Bush and associates would get if they were tried for Supreme and Unimaginable crimes against humanity because reports estimate that 655,000 people have died in Iraq as a result of the 2003 invasion “. Even worse than that, are the horrors perpetrated by Mr. Bush at the prison in Abu Gharib and Guantanamo bay.

Here is an indicative list of the various methods of tortures employed by the US government to break physically and mentally the prisoners of the so-called war on terror. It is natural to want to disbelieve accounts of torture. It is sickening to discover the depths of cruelty our fellow men can sink to. We cannot stop the torture if you lie to yourself that it does not exist. It is real. There are even criminal convictions.

• Killing wounded prisoners
• Murder
• Kicking prisoners to death
• Sodomy with a broomstick and chemical light.
• Water-boarding where a suspect is strapped to a board, turned upside down, and immersed in a wet towel to simulate the feeling of drowning until he loses consciousness.
• Throwing off bridge into river and drowning
• Near suffocation
• Parents forced to watch son being tortured.
• Government documents show soldiers were ordered to “beat the fuck out of” prisoners.
• Chaining to the ceilings of cells for days at a time.
• Common personae strike aimed at a point just below the knee and intended to disable. Pulpifying the legs so they look as though they had though they had been run over by a bus.
• Starvation
• Sleep and sensory deprivation: Covering the eyes, ears, wrapping the body in bubble wrap. After a few hours of this, hallucinations set in then eventually permanent insanity.
• Claustrophobic technique: stuffing POWs into a sleeping bag and winding them with an electrical cord.
• Water pit in which detainees have to stand on tiptoe to keep from drowning.
• Breaking a teen's jaw, then wiring it shut.
• Hanging by arms from hooks, Palestinian Hanging.
• Permitting serious dog bites
• Bending back fingers
• Taping naked prisoner to board so that cannot move and leaving them there for weeks until they go insane.
• Intense isolation for more than 3 months
• Slamming the head into a wall until it bleeds.
• Stacking of naked prisoners in pyramids.
P.S. This is just an indicative list

The torture was not just a few bad apples. It goes right to the top. Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International USA say there is prima facie evidence against Rumsfeld for war crimes and torture. Moreover, Amnesty International USA says there is also prima facie evidence against Bush for war crimes and torture.

Coming to the reaction of the execution, India has meekly described the execution of saddam Hussain as an unfortunate event and hoped it would not affect the ongoing peace process (a car bomb killed 77 people just hours after the execution), while the need for the hour was a strong and independent response to the hanging. India hopes to gain US friendship in return of its feeble response to the killing, but it should not forget that the mujaheedins in Afghanistan and the Dark Lord of terror Osama Bin Laden was an American creation and even Saddam was one time friend of America.

When George HW Bush was vice president, Saddam Hussein was still seen as a potential partner thanks to his status as the enemy of America's enemy, Iran. It was in 1983 that Donald Rumsfeld was dispatched to Baghdad as a friend of the Reagan administration to shake the hand of Saddam Hussein and offer America's help against the ayatollahs during the Iran Iraq War. Alliance finally turned into animosity when Saddam Hussein invaded Kuwait and President Bush cobbled together an international alliance of Western and Arab states to remove him from Kuwait but not from power. When the purpose of Osama and Saddam was served, the US did not hesitate to drop them like a hot potato. Therefore, we should exercise a word of caution, while dealing with the noble and righteous United States of America.

Here I take the liberty of modifying Martin Niemöller’s famous lines, which are applicable for the world in general and India in particular

First, they came for the North Koreans, and I did not speak out
because I was not a North Korean;
Then they came for the Vietnamese, and I did not speak out
because I was not a Vietnamee;
Then they came for the Afghans, and I did not speak out
because I was not an Afghan;
Then they came for the Iraqis, and I did not speak out
because I was not an Iraqi;
Then they came for me
and there was no one left to speak out for me.

The world is indeed a dangerous place; but courtesy Bush and allies it is becoming even more dangerous.

Circus in Iraq

BUSH TO DELAY STRATERGY ON IRAQ UNTIL NEXT YEAR.
Let some more destruction occur .Aisi bhi kya Jaldi hai

After the colossal misadventure named IRAQ, America is looking forward to the report to be submitted by Mr. James Baker (an aide of GB senior) for its future course of action. Its dilemma is understandable. That is like being caught between a hard rock and the sea. If America stays in Iraq, things will worsen. If they get out of Iraq, things will worsen. On one hand, you have your own people, calling for the withdrawal of troops for the fear of more casualties, on the other hand, we have the Bush Administration abeying all calls for a retreat, for the fear of inciting a’’ civil’’ war

What civil war????? What has been civil about the entire invasion anyway? The systematic torture of innocent civilians in the name of extracting information about the so-called Terrorists was not civil. The doctored verdict, which resulted in the death sentence of Saddam Hussain, was not so civil. Moreover, the fact that according to the study conducted by one of the most respected Universities in the world (John Hopkins), more than 600000 Iraqis have died since the Iraqi debacle.

Though these figures were dismissed as exaggerated by the US Govt, they do no wink an eyelid on quoting the very own figures given by the same university while talking about the problem in Sudan. Body count estimates quotes the minimum number of Iraqi deaths to nearly 53,000.We can imagine the ceiling figure. Moreover, the American Troops have not been left untouched .According to the reports, more than 2500 American troops have died for the greater good of the world .That’s a lot more than the people killed in the 9/11 attacks.
If I remember correctly, Bush and Blair were one of the nominees for the Nobel Peace prize 2 or 3 years ago. How could the Nobel peace prize committee even think of nominating the two bloodthirsty, power hungry cowards for a noble cause?

America, with its “Saving the World “thing has indeed made the world a more dangerous thing to live in than the terrorists have. When the Anglo American invasion started, there were calls from the French, German socialists and other European countries to the Iraqi’s not to resist it. Was it a ploy to appease the US or was it that Iraqi people are of lower breed and inferior people who prefer to be ruled by a foreign power than by a tyrant. Whatever it is, the Europeans were disappointed. The Iraqis gave the Americans the taste of their own medicine. What bitter medicine it was!!!!!. They say that they have encountered a bloody and violent resistance to the invasion but WHEN YOU HAVE AN UGLY OCCUPATION, YOU CANNOT HAVE A BEAUTIFUL RESISTANCE. (According to Mr. Tariq Ali and am sure we all agree with that)
.
The Iraqi people have a very weird way of expressing their gratitude towards the Americans for emancipating them from the tyrannical rule of Saddam Hussain and giving them an opportunity to enjoy the true pleasures of life in Iraq and for the fortunate few, in the lap of God himself. .The people of Iraq are indeed very ungrateful. On the other hand, are they? There must be a reason behind the generosity of the Americans. What was it then?
Genuine concern for the Iraqi people?? Weapons of mass destruction possessed by Saddam Was it Oil. Or for that matter that it was just a pro bono for their Israeli friends. Here George Bush helps us out.

The Americans were, according to Mr. George Bush, on a mission of God. At the beginning of the invasion, Big George confessed to have received the Stamp of God’s approval to pursue Saddam, to pursue Osama Bin Laden and to get rid the world of them. To quote his own words

“I am driven with a mission from God”
God would tell me “George, Go and fight the terrorists in Afghanistan “
And I did.
And then God would tell me “George, go and end the tyranny in Iraq”
And I did. (The Hindu October 2006, date between 5-10th cannot remember exact date)

Imagine, if Hitler had told the same thing if he were tried for war crimes and the pogroms of Jewish people (60 lakh Jews to be exact).


Therefore, who are the Iraqi people to interfere with MISSION OF GOD? What about the after effects of this ugly war .The prisoner of so-called WAR AGAINST TERROR (read war against Islam) and the torture cells in Abu Gharib and Guantanmo Bay. Just to narrate a few incidents which make a shameful reading:-

“Jane Mayer writes about the death of an Iraqi prisoner Manadel al-Jamadi in Abu Gharib.His head was covered with a plastic bag and he was shackled in a position that led to asphyxiation (suffocated to death).

Humiliation and indignity were also very helpful tools in the process of interrogation. A prisoner in Guantanamo Bay was questioned for as long as 20 hours, forbidden to urinate until he ‘went’ on himself and made to bark like a dog. His treatment was an exercise in humiliation. There were also other reports of prisoners being chained hand and foot to the floor for 24 hours until they urinated and defecated on themselves.

Did GOD ask Big GEORGE to do this too?

How was this torture better than the ones conducted by the Saddam regime .The torture conducted by Saddam was one of a tyrannical, power hungry despot, while the Democratic, Liberal and Oh –so concerned about the world America, is conducting the present one. It is in true words PURE TERRORISM. Which one is better is anybody’s guess.

These were the incidents, which “have been reported”. ‘God’ knows what other hellish incidents occur at the detainee camps and the secret torture cells in Eastern Europe courtesy the CIA, under the guise of the war against terror.
And what did they get out of it, an increase in suspicion among the Islamic countries, a toll greater than 9/11, practical fear of being forced to leave Iraq to dogs, loss of sympathy from some, if not all of its admirers, a massive loss in popularity among its own people and complete lack of direction on what to do next. Poor dear, what an IGNOMINIOUS END TO A NOBLE MISSION.

SOURCES:-
The Hindu
New York Times
Google.com
Works of Tariq Ali
bbc.com


POST SCRIPT: For those interested I would suggest a reading a poem by the Syrian poet Nizar Kabbani titled I AM WITH TERRORISM.

RESERVATION RAGE

It is indeed a pitiful site that, a person who is so weak that he requires support to stand up ad cannot even walk in a straight line is trying to give a new direction to the country and lead it to a strong and stable future. I suppose everyone has their own views about reservation for the OBC’s, but one thing I am sure we all agree upon is that giving reservation to the so called backward and not so developed groups is not going to reduce the gap between them and the others to a large extent. It is just a gimmick to maintain the vote bank of the political parties. True, that the purpose behind reservations was a noble one, though not as noble as it is now, and there were three objectives of a quota reservation system in jobs, education and other economic opportunities.
1. Provide succor to the weaker sections of the society.
2. Control or discipline masses in each quota category through quota
3. Distribute the national pie among elite in each category.

But since the past 54 years, the meaning of the purpose has been so distorted by the political parties that, it bears no semblance to the purpose our founding fathers hoped, it would achieve.

Let us look at, where it all started. The SC/ST reservation bill was passed in parliament when we as a nation were not even counted amongst developing nations (in 1952). This bill was passed for A TEMPORARY TIME to uplift the downtrodden & there was no timeline set for the validation of this bill (although no end period was set in written in constitution or any other document but it did not mean eternity). Till date there has been no amendment or abolishment of this rule. Reason? Because no ruling party wants to lose its votes or its vote bank. Simply calling --"KISSA KURSI KA".

As if the SC/ST, OBC reservations are not enough, we have NRI Quota, management quota, Ex Servicemen quota, minority quota, ladies quota, sports quota, and NCC quota. Now, you tell me what is left. India is the only country in the world where people where people love being labeled backward and fit for QUOTA type. And the politicians are just waiting for a chance to fan this already smoldering sentiment
What do we get when we try to protest against the government’s opportunistic decision .Lathi Charge, Water Canons, and the supreme blow by the Supreme Court to stop the protest and return to work?.So what next now ????A quota for those affected by Quota. Is this how a democracy, which gives the right to speak one’s mind and the right to freedom, supposed to work? Though one bright spot of the protest was that people were not willing to blindly follow the government order and comply with that, but came in large numbers to not only attend but also organize the protests.Or Was it the RANG DE BASANTI EFFECT??? Delhi was the true capital of India once again, being the EPICENTRE of the protests.

It is a bitter fact that we are still living in an unjust society and certain sections of the society are still being exploited and deprived of their rights. But instead of eradicating this injustice the only thing we are doing is to create further splits in the already fragile structure. We should strive for a society which fosters equality among all the sections and for that we require the country’s youth (TOMMORROW’S CITIZENS) to make the people realize that division in the name of caste and creed is going to harm our own future.