Long journey to injustice
“For my own country, the process of becoming a mature, multi-ethnic democracy was lengthy and violent. Our journey from national independence to equal injustice included the enslavement of millions and a four-year civil war.” — Emperor George Bush II, May 7.
Iraqi cat insurgency in real trouble
“To finish training we must catch a wild rabbit or cat with our hands, kill it with our hands and then eat it raw. I have eaten five cats.” — Captain Haidar, a US-recruited and -trained Iraqi soldier, quoted in the London Telegraph, May 24.
Now eats humble pie
“The US politician who led the campaign to change the name of french fries to ‘freedom fries' has turned against the war. Walter Jones, the Republican congressman for North Carolina, who was also the brains behind french toast becoming freedom toast in Capitol Hill restaurants, told a local newspaper the US went to war ‘with no justification'.” — British Guardian, May 25.
Spreading freedom around the world
“The US has held hundreds of people without trial or even charges at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the US airbase at Bagram in Afghanistan, said the [2005 annual] Amnesty International report. It has gone to great lengths to restrict the use of the Geneva Convention, and ‘subcontracted torture', in Amnesty International's phrase, by handing over detainees to allied nations where forceful interrogation is condoned.” — USA Today, May 26.
And he managed to say it with a straight face
“The United States is leading the way when it comes to protecting human rights and promoting human dignity.” — White House spokesperson Scott McClellan, May 26, responding to the Amnesty report.
From Green Left Weekly, June 1, 2005.
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