Human Rights Watch has just released its annual report castigating President Bush for his approval of US counter-terrorism policies which are, they crow, deliberate in their use, "of torture and mistreatment." and being Human Rights Watch, they need provide little back up documentation other than a wink, a nod and an early release to The New York Times. They do however go on to pronounce that our strategy has aided terrorist recruitment and hindered our ability put the arm on other law abiding nations for aid, no doubt meaning France, the Gold Coast and Tuvalu.
Well, glory be. Though, in fairness, they do chide Uzbekistan and the Sudan for troublesome behavior, and take the Congo, North Korea and Chechnya to task for "persistent atrocities." and last, but not least, they go on to paint the ongoing string of difficulties plaguing Haiti as "disastrous," with a brief description or two of drumhead executions, freewheeling arrests and rampant thuggery, all in spite of the visible presence of blue bereted UN Peacekeepers representing the embattled Secretary General, Kofi annan.
But all is not bleak as Human Rights Watch gives kudos to India for ending its military aid to the armageddon threatening Nepal, the association of Southeast asian Nations for getting up the gumption to chuck out the dreaded Burma as its 2006 chairman and to Kyrghyzstan for rescuing all but four of the survivors of the andijan massacre, though the fate of the final four remains unclear in the report.
No softballs included for us, though, for tsunami relief, no slaps on the back for advanced medical care in Iraq, nor mobile surgical hospitals delivered to Pakistan after the earthquake, or food to Iran after their earthquake, nope, just the time tested series of bleak remonstrations.
Funny, but I don't see anything about Osama, Zarqawi and al-Zawahiri in the report. I guess their brands of beheading, murder and freestyle torture are just a local thing and don't really rate a big press release like the abu Ghraib deal did, what with the full investigation and the courts-martial and the sentencing according to the Uniform Code of Military Justice. But, then again, Osama, Zarqawi and al-Zawahiri just don't draw the same level of fist pounding, serried mewling and tumid lamentations from Ted Kennedy and Pat Leahy that the prison deal did.
From my way of thinking, what with all the tommyrot and gnashing of teeth about who's vexing whom and the latest definition of torture according to John McCain and the torment witnessed in the late lamented alito hearings, there are a few things that Human Rights Watch ought to look into once they get off their high horse and stop throwing slow pitches to the liberal Democrats and the mainstream media.
One of the first things Human Rights Watch (HRW) could research is the exclusive use of CNN at entirely too many US airports in bringing unwitting passengers what purports to be the "news." Often called the Clinton News Network by its denizens and other far less complimentary nicknames by those who are able to discern its massive left wing bias, its continual and monumental skewing of the facts and its brazen attempts to portray Democratic campaign advertisements as "comment," it results in what can only be described as torture for those who are forced to endure its ceaseless high decibel propagandistic patter due to their forced proximity to its locations at gates and times of departure. Perhaps HRW could demand a more accurate approach to reporting as a way of reducing the pain and suffering of the traveling public.
another problem that needs to be addressed is the tortuous overcrowding and piteous conditions occurring on far too many of our urban transit lines. Often jam packed to the point of instability, riders are routinely jostled and have their feet trod on, their clothes sullied, cheap fortified wine spilled on them by unkempt, pestilential and often intoxicated fellow riders, endure black-outs as the trains pass over circuits, and many times have their personal property stolen or damaged during these dangerous episodes between stops. While so engaged, riders are perpetually bombarded with large, often meaningless advertisements, and pestered by listless, union affiliated workers, further adding to their uneasiness. HRW might advocate for larger, cleaner, airier and less odiferous trains with special cars to house the rambling inebriates, and for more keenly attuned and helpful employees, thereby lowering the stressors normally associated with the extraordinary martyrdom of the daily commute.
another thing the vaunted human rights outfit could examine is the profligate throwing of The New York Times in my driveway overnight. Now granted, this doesn't sound like a big deal. But when it goes on for weeks as part of some sort of free promotion and the local distributor claims they can't stop it for the duration of the deal, due to the difficulties of getting hold of the drivers and the language barriers associated with the cessation of the service, it's a violation of my human rights. I don't want it, I don't read it, it blows all over my yard and I don't have a parrot with a cage to line. and if there was something to read in it other than block busters like, "US businesses will be responsible for future american economic growth," and that President Bush is responsible for everything of an unsavory nature in the country, I might be more appreciative of its palliative powers. Maybe HRW might approach large liberal newspapers and ask their distributors seek permission from the victims before dumping weeks' worth of unwanted coop fillers in the yards and driveways of the hoi polloi.
Human Rights Watch has a choice to make. They can look through the proper end of the telescope and notice that al-Qaeda and international terrorism are real threats and are killing and torturing people, innocent people, and that we are fighting a war against these savages, or they can blunder around, churn out the blather, look insipid and see things out of the wrong end of the telescope. It's their choice, though I suspect the cocktails are tastier, the canapés are more delectable and the elbows are more easily rubbed in Turtle Bay, Monte Carlo and Vail — or wherever they meet and greet.
But the skylarking of the Human Rights Watch won't be getting any traction with the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, the 11th Mountain Division, the 101st airborne, or The World Famous Pukin' Dogs (VF-143) and all the other US and allied military units in the field. They're still after our enemies--the real honest to goodness terrorists, not those manufactured in a send up to liberal fantastists.
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