There are decades when nothing happens; and there are weeks when decades happen. – V. I. Lenin (1870-1924)
It's not radical Islam that worries the US – it's independence. The nature of any regime it backs in the Arab world is secondary to control. Subjects are ignored until they break their chains. – Noam Chomsky
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What other dictators does the U.S. support?
By Justin Elliott
Saudi Arabia
Human Rights Watch summarized the situation in its annual report: "Authorities continue to systematically suppress or fail to protect the rights of nine million Saudi women and girls, eight million foreign workers, and some two million Shia citizens. Each year thousands of people receive unfair trials or are subject to arbitrary detention. Curbs on freedom of association, expression, and movement, as well as a pervasive lack of official accountability, remain serious concerns."
Jordan
And, according to Human Rights Watch, violations of basic freedoms are not uncommon in Jordan. The group said in its annual report: "Torture, routine and widespread in recent years, continues, in particular at police stations, where complaints about ill-treatment increased in 2009 and again in 2010." There is also no freedom of speech in Jordan, with steep penalties for criticizing the king or the government.
Turkmenistan
It seems not to matter to U.S. policymakers that Turkmenistan is run by one of the most repressive regimes in existence. It presides over the following impressively long list of human rights violations, according to a 2009 State Department report: citizens' inability to change their government; reports of torture and mistreatment of detainees; incommunicado and prolonged detention; arbitrary arrest and detention; denial of due process and fair trial; arbitrary interference with privacy, home, and correspondence; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association; restrictions on religious freedom, including continued harassment of religious minority group members; restrictions on freedom of movement for some citizens, including increased restrictions on those intending to study abroad; violence against women; and restrictions on free association of workers.
Uzbekistan
Torture is common, and the Guardian reported in 2003 that two prisoners were even boiled to death. Here's what Human Rights Watch says about Uzbekistan's human rights record: "Authorities continue to crackdown on civil society activists, opposition members, and independent journalists, and to persecute religious believers who worship outside strict state controls. Freedom of expression remains severely limited. Government-initiated forced child labor during the cotton harvest continues."
Equatorial Guinea
Human Rights Watch reports that Guinea is "ired in corruption, poverty, and repression under the leadership of" Obiang and that "the government regularly engages in torture and arbitrary detention." Oil revenues are distributed to the president's family and allies, with his son reportedly spending more on luxury goods between 2004 and 2007 than the country's annual education budget.
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All of the above countries are foreign terrorist organizations. And there is a law on the books in the USA saying that no one is allowed to give support to foreign terrorist organizations. And yet, our government is doing that time and time again when they hand over money and weapons to these countries. They are clearly giving support to a foreign terrorist organization, and giving them the worst kind of support: weapons that kill.
And, in fairness, I have to plead guilty to supporting a DOMESTIC terrorist organization. It is one of the largest such organization in the world, and is generally known by the title "US Government", although the terrorist activities are carried out by the FBI, CIA, Special Forces, and scores of other government agencies and private contractors. I support them by paying my taxes, mainly because I don’t want to get thrown in jail. I wish that the taxes I paid went for good purposes, but they don't. The money goes to evil.
It's not radical Islam that worries the US – it's independence. The nature of any regime it backs in the Arab world is secondary to control. Subjects are ignored until they break their chains. – Noam Chomsky
**************************
What other dictators does the U.S. support?
By Justin Elliott
Saudi Arabia
Human Rights Watch summarized the situation in its annual report: "Authorities continue to systematically suppress or fail to protect the rights of nine million Saudi women and girls, eight million foreign workers, and some two million Shia citizens. Each year thousands of people receive unfair trials or are subject to arbitrary detention. Curbs on freedom of association, expression, and movement, as well as a pervasive lack of official accountability, remain serious concerns."
Jordan
And, according to Human Rights Watch, violations of basic freedoms are not uncommon in Jordan. The group said in its annual report: "Torture, routine and widespread in recent years, continues, in particular at police stations, where complaints about ill-treatment increased in 2009 and again in 2010." There is also no freedom of speech in Jordan, with steep penalties for criticizing the king or the government.
Turkmenistan
It seems not to matter to U.S. policymakers that Turkmenistan is run by one of the most repressive regimes in existence. It presides over the following impressively long list of human rights violations, according to a 2009 State Department report: citizens' inability to change their government; reports of torture and mistreatment of detainees; incommunicado and prolonged detention; arbitrary arrest and detention; denial of due process and fair trial; arbitrary interference with privacy, home, and correspondence; restrictions on freedom of speech, press, assembly, and association; restrictions on religious freedom, including continued harassment of religious minority group members; restrictions on freedom of movement for some citizens, including increased restrictions on those intending to study abroad; violence against women; and restrictions on free association of workers.
Uzbekistan
Torture is common, and the Guardian reported in 2003 that two prisoners were even boiled to death. Here's what Human Rights Watch says about Uzbekistan's human rights record: "Authorities continue to crackdown on civil society activists, opposition members, and independent journalists, and to persecute religious believers who worship outside strict state controls. Freedom of expression remains severely limited. Government-initiated forced child labor during the cotton harvest continues."
Equatorial Guinea
Human Rights Watch reports that Guinea is "ired in corruption, poverty, and repression under the leadership of" Obiang and that "the government regularly engages in torture and arbitrary detention." Oil revenues are distributed to the president's family and allies, with his son reportedly spending more on luxury goods between 2004 and 2007 than the country's annual education budget.
*******************************************
All of the above countries are foreign terrorist organizations. And there is a law on the books in the USA saying that no one is allowed to give support to foreign terrorist organizations. And yet, our government is doing that time and time again when they hand over money and weapons to these countries. They are clearly giving support to a foreign terrorist organization, and giving them the worst kind of support: weapons that kill.
And, in fairness, I have to plead guilty to supporting a DOMESTIC terrorist organization. It is one of the largest such organization in the world, and is generally known by the title "US Government", although the terrorist activities are carried out by the FBI, CIA, Special Forces, and scores of other government agencies and private contractors. I support them by paying my taxes, mainly because I don’t want to get thrown in jail. I wish that the taxes I paid went for good purposes, but they don't. The money goes to evil.
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