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"...if investigative journalism is classified as espionage and can be incriminated around the world, then censorship and tyranny will follow. A murderous system

"...if investigative journalism is classified as espionage and can be incriminated around the world, then censorship and tyranny will follow. A murderous system is being created before our very eyes. War crimes and torture are not being prosecuted. YouTube videos are circulating in which American soldiers brag about driving Iraqi women to suicide with systematic rape. Nobody is investigating it. At the same time, a person who exposes such things is being threatened with 175 years in prison. For an entire decade, he has been inundated with accusations that cannot be proven and are breaking him. And nobody is being held accountable. Nobody is taking responsibility. It marks an erosion of the social contract. We give countries power and delegate it to governments – but in return, they must be held accountable for how they exercise that power. If we don’t demand that they be held accountable, we will lose our rights sooner or later. Humans are not democratic by their nature. Power corrupts if it is not monitored. Corruption is the result if we do not insist that power be monitored."

saiya-jin 7y ago
> Humans are not democratic by their nature. How sad. How still very much true.
nonbirithm 7y ago
> YouTube videos are circulating in which American soldiers brag about driving Iraqi women to suicide with systematic rape. Is there a citation for this? All I could find was allegations of sexual assault in the US military (which is also completely horrendous), but no videos on YouTube.
- GhettoMaestro 7y ago
  Of course there isn't a citation, because it is most likely pure bullshit. Show me the video and I will change my mind.
- tyingq 7y ago
  There are many, just a Google search away from "Iraq rape us military". Here is one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_rape_and_killings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_rape_and_killings
  - nsajko 7y ago
    This case was prosecuted, with convictions; but Melzer says "Nobody is investigating it.". I am not saying he is wrong, but he seems to be in the habit of casting aspersions without giving examples.
pjc50 7y ago
It's not just that it's not investigated, one of the people convicted of shooting civilians at random in Iraq was pardoned. That can only serve to make the point that it's deliberate. And popular with the voters.

saiya-jin 7y ago

> Humans are not democratic by their nature. How sad. How still very much true.

nonbirithm 7y ago

> YouTube videos are circulating in which American soldiers brag about driving Iraqi women to suicide with systematic rape. Is there a citation for this? All I could find was allegations of sexual assault in the US military (which is also completely horrendous), but no videos on YouTube.

GhettoMaestro 7y ago
Of course there isn't a citation, because it is most likely pure bullshit. Show me the video and I will change my mind.
tyingq 7y ago
There are many, just a Google search away from "Iraq rape us military". Here is one: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_rape_and_killings https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahmudiyah_rape_and_killings
- nsajko 7y ago
  This case was prosecuted, with convictions; but Melzer says "Nobody is investigating it.". I am not saying he is wrong, but he seems to be in the habit of casting aspersions without giving examples.

pjc50 7y ago

It's not just that it's not investigated, one of the people convicted of shooting civilians at random in Iraq was pardoned. That can only serve to make the point that it's deliberate. And popular with the voters.