4 ms·

And arbitrary armed violence is "world police". And militias we decide to back are "rebels", the ones we don't are "terrorists". And governments we don't like a

by Udik 7y ago

And arbitrary armed violence is "world police". And militias we decide to back are "rebels", the ones we don't are "terrorists". And governments we don't like are "regimes". And acts of terrorism from our side are "targeted killings". And killed civilians are "collateral damage". The list is endless.

igravious 7y ago
Watched Vice[0] recently starring Christian Bale as a corpulent power-grabbing[1] vengeful, power-behind-the-throne, Dick Cheney; Amy Adams as his steely missus; Sam Rockwell as a likable "W"; and Steve Carell (of all people) playing Donald "Don" Rumsfeld. They get to the part post 9/11 where the gloves come off and they sit down with corrupt legal advisers (Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo), many who are advocates of the Unitary Executive Theory[2], to concoct a legal firewall around their actions. The twisted logic is: The US does not torture therefore the varieties of "enhanced interrogation" being used cannot, ipso facto, be torture. Alongside "enhanced interrogation techniques" (torture) we have those other Newspeak euphemisms[3] "extraordinary rendition" (state-sponsored kidnapping) and "enemy combatants" (any fighting-age male present in a combat zone). Then there's the legal limbo that is Guantanamo Bay, the suspension of habeas corpus[4] (a foundational legal right in modern democracies), and the frankly draconian USA PATRIOT Act. Ah, good times. [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/ [1] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/etc/network.html https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/etc/networ... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory [3] https://vizettes.com/kt/american_empire/pages/euphemisms-glossary.htm https://vizettes.com/kt/american_empire/pages/euphemisms-glo... [4] https://www.thoughtco.com/bush-lincoln-both-suspended-habeas-corpus-3321847 https://www.thoughtco.com/bush-lincoln-both-suspended-habeas...

by Udik 7y ago

igravious 7y ago

Watched Vice[0] recently starring Christian Bale as a corpulent power-grabbing[1] vengeful, power-behind-the-throne, Dick Cheney; Amy Adams as his steely missus; Sam Rockwell as a likable "W"; and Steve Carell (of all people) playing Donald "Don" Rumsfeld. They get to the part post 9/11 where the gloves come off and they sit down with corrupt legal advisers (Alberto Gonzales, David Addington, William Haynes, Jay Bybee and John Yoo), many who are advocates of the Unitary Executive Theory[2], to concoct a legal firewall around their actions. The twisted logic is: The US does not torture therefore the varieties of "enhanced interrogation" being used cannot, ipso facto, be torture. Alongside "enhanced interrogation techniques" (torture) we have those other Newspeak euphemisms[3] "extraordinary rendition" (state-sponsored kidnapping) and "enemy combatants" (any fighting-age male present in a combat zone). Then there's the legal limbo that is Guantanamo Bay, the suspension of habeas corpus[4] (a foundational legal right in modern democracies), and the frankly draconian USA PATRIOT Act. Ah, good times. [0] https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6266538/ [1] https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/etc/network.html https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/darkside/etc/networ... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unitary_executive_theory [3] https://vizettes.com/kt/american_empire/pages/euphemisms-glossary.htm https://vizettes.com/kt/american_empire/pages/euphemisms-glo... [4] https://www.thoughtco.com/bush-lincoln-both-suspended-habeas-corpus-3321847 https://www.thoughtco.com/bush-lincoln-both-suspended-habeas...