Amnesty International = politically blinded morons?

[OuTpaTienT]

Yep. It certainly seems that way.

The UK is speaking out against Saddam by specifying some of his torture methods used by his regime. Which include electric drills through the hands/feet, eye gouging, and acid baths. And You'd think Amnesty International, an organization that supposed to be concerned with human rights violations world wide, would be interested in this information. You also might think they'd have something to say about it and would want to look into a way to put a stop to it.

But you'd be wrong. They did have something to say however. Their brilliant statement on the subject was to condemn the UK for using the information to further strengthen the prospect of war with Iraq.

Huh?

Unbelievable. Amnesty International = a collection of politically driven jackasses with not even the slightest concern for real human rights violations.



http://europe.cnn.com/2002/WORLD/mea...t.irq.dossier/

[Theophylact]

Check it out, OuTpaTienT. You have no idea what you're talking about. Take a look at all the places that are on Amnesty's fecal roster, and tell me if you still think it's politically driven. Just because you want to go to war with Iraq doesn't mean that they don't really concern themselves with human rights.

Their criticism of the British "dossier" is not that it's wrong; they agree that Saddam is a monster. They simply question the reasons for its use right now.

[daveleau]

Maybe we should send AI pictures of Nagasaki and Hiroshima superimposed over US and Israeli cities to answer their questions. The threat in Iraq is similar to that of China, Korea, India and Pakistan. The only thing is that Iraq's threat is coupled with the world's 4th largest army, good technology, nukes and a loose cannon behind the wheel who hates the US with such a passion that he would stop at nothing to destroy us (ie feeding weapons to Al Qaeda and feeding nukes to Al Qaeda down the line).

AI is well intentioned and a good organization, but they quite often miss the big picture, like many emotionally driven organizations. They have a big heart, but no brain... Kind of like the scarecrow from The Wizard of Oz... ("If I only had a brain!")

[Epidemic]

Scarecrow. heh heh heh !

[Theophylact]

I'm simply arguing that someone who disagrees with you on one issue isn't necessarily a fool, a knave, a pacifist or a Communist. If you look, you'll see that most of their villains are the same as yours.

[Epidemic]

I am confused by their stance on the use of this data to bolster a war effort.

How do they expect their goal to be achived. They will wait for a long time using their methods of complaining. The words when hell freezes over comes to mind.

Their villians are ours. True, however their methods are ineffective, in fact self destructive to their intended goal.

[OuTpaTienT]

Torture victims in Iraq have been blindfolded, stripped of their clothes and suspended from their wrists for long hours. Electric shocks have been used on various parts of their bodies, including the genitals, ears, the tongue and fingers. Victims have described to Amnesty International how they have been beaten with canes, whips, hosepipe or metal rods and how they have been suspended for hours from either a rotating fan in the ceiling or from a horizontal pole often in contorted positions as electric shocks were applied repeatedly on their bodies. Some victims had been forced to watch others, including their own relatives or family members, being tortured in front of them.

Other methods of physical torture described by former victims include the use of Falaqa (beating on the soles of the feet), extinguishing of cigarettes on various parts of the body, extraction of finger nails and toenails and piercing of the hands with an electric drill. Some have been sexually abused and others have had objects, including broken bottles, forced into their anus. In addition to physical torture, detainees have been threatened with rape and subjected to mock execution. They have been placed in cells where they could hear the screams of others being tortured and have been deprived of sleep. Some have stayed in solitary confinement for long periods of time. Detainees have also been threatened with bringing in a female relative, especially the wife or the mother, and raping her in front of the detainee. Some of these threats have been carried out.

From: http://web.amnesty.org/ai.nsf/Index/...COUNTRIES\IRAQ


That activity has the green light from "the man" himself on down though his hierarchy of goons. But let's not build a case against him and then take him down. No. Let's talk to him. Maybe if we ask nicely he'll start treating people better.

Maybe they do have their heart in the right place and maybe they are well intentioned. But they are also disillusioned and completely ineffective at actually doing anything about human rights violations. They can sure document the hell out them. And that's useful. And they should continue with doing that. But that's about all they are good for.

[Knothead]

But they are also disillusioned and completely ineffective at actually doing anything about human rights violations.

I am too. There's darned little I personally can do about that monster.

They can sure document the hell out them. And that's useful. And they should continue with doing that. But that's about all they are good for.

Fine with me. At least they're up to SOMETHING.

Therefore, I say, let's continue to support them.

[Theophylact]

But that's about all they are good for.

That is what they do. They're not an army; they're not a government. They put pressure on regimes to behave better: letter-writing campaigns, lobbying, publicity. Embarrassment and shame are not always without effect.