Sunday, May 15, 2005

Getting Their Man

Who could forget this week the TV report showing police firing off dozens of rounds of live ammo at an unarmed American SUV driver who had obviously pissed them off during his free-for-all driving binge? More than 100 shots fired through his windshield, at his doors, tires, at him and when the gang of cops physically pounced on the wounded man like footballers celebrating a victory, they handcuffed him and bully-marched him into custody. Boy, they sure got their man. These cops looked like they were all suffering some sort of mob frenzy and considering that they each were using mortal force it sure gave me pause about who’s holding those guns.

There must have been a discount at Martin Short’s Academy for Wayward GunToters and Would Be Mavericks to qualify this load of trigger-happy grunts.

Then we have the report of Guantanamo Bay atrocities to add to our file on prisoner abuses in the War Against Terrorists. And for anybody getting confused as to what that war is all about, be sure to ask an American prison interrogator as he inflicts terror and torture upon the Guantanamo inmates, aka the “detainees” (called that so that they don’t have to be treated as prisoners of war under the Geneva convention). The lesson of Abu Ghraib seems to have been misplaced already. So much for the world-wide indignation about that atrocity. Obviously Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld’s employees are having far too much fun to concern themselves about human rights and international law. (See Amnesty International's take on this story, below.)

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