Amnesty International and Mr. Bush [Archives:2005/852/Opinion]

It goes without saying that it seems that the issues of human rights and the right to uphold different political views has never been subjected to a harder ordeal than that being witnessed in the present time. Not only is the fight for human rights becoming a formidable challenge in the Third World countries, where, in some countries, even the most basic of human rights are as far away as Breakfast at Tiffany's, but even the most looked up to democracy in the world has decided to embark on a clearly open systematic pursuit of limiting and restricting the enjoyment of fundamental human and political rights of its own constituencies, to a certain extent. While not yet declaring itself an open dictatorship or a totalitarian order, it is nevertheless quite obvious that the present Administration in the White House has decided to set out on an agenda that has grossly changed the trend of political and social development that began with the coming of the Prophets and the costly struggles of thousands of the inhabitants of this planet over the centuries.

Moreover, the White House has allowed itself to be the infallible judge of all other people, who may not be conducive to the agenda pursued by the neo-con and old-con establishment in the United States, or who may have a different viewpoint as to how to deal with the problems of the world. To add fuel to fire, the White House has openly attacked any political regimes accepted by their very own constituencies, without truly having any real inkling as to the real merits and positive aspects of such regimes or how they operate. The latest attack against the elections in Iran are a clear case in point, where it is obvious that Mr. George W. Bush was clearly expressing biases and prejudices rather than constructive criticism of a fundamentally operating democracy that has the full acceptance of the overwhelming majority of the people of Iran and has earned the respect of many in the international community. The latest and previous elections of Iran shown that Iran is far more progressive than most of the oppressive and autocratic orders that the Bush Administration praises as “friends and allies” in its own rendition of the “War on Terror”.

As if that was not enough, the Bush Administration then goes on to lash out at important institutions of civil society that have merely affirmed what many of America's leading thinkers, writers, and politicians have been stating for some time now: that Guantanamo Prison is simply out of tune with internationally accepted principles of human rights and humane treatment of people, who may or may not pose any threat to anyone or who are far away even from the people that the Bush Administration has claimed to be their No. 1 Public Enemy. The latter are still at large and not seeming to pose any serious worry or concern for the White House and the establishment that has openly declared a war against a significant portion of humanity, not so much as a consequence of a severe attack on the interests that stand behind the Bush Administration. Rather, this war was a predetermined agenda set out to serve the narrow interests of a dangerous evil force that seems to believe it has the right to bring down all of humanity to its knees and to stand out of the way, while the establishment plunders the elements of the planet and destroys its natural and social cohesion. We have read and found many Americans, who truly see Guantanamo prison as being far away from the shining example of American democracy, which the Bush Administration purportedly wants to propagate throughout the world. So, it should not be surprising to the Bush Administration that the harsh treatment meted out to prisoners, who are detained without legal or constitutional pretext, should come under criticism of a human rights watchdog organization like AI. One, in fact, expected the White House to hopefully come to an awakening that if AI is critical of the way the Bush Administration has behaved in Guantanamo, then as a democracy that gives weight to the significance of civil society, it should seek ways to demonstrate that it is indeed an upholder of democratic principles. But as usual the Bush Administration has demonstrated that indeed it is liable to even further criticism by harshly lashing out against its critics, as if to tell the world that the Bushniks and their Likudnik mentors have a God given hold on infallibility and their rights are only governed by the evil interests they serve rather than the desire to enhance and uphold the rights and welfare of people all over the world. It is really high time for the Bush Administration to understand that they will and must be subject to the criticism of respectable organizations like Amnesty International, whose credibility has far surpassed any credibility the Bush Administration has ever displayed.
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