Finger Wagging

Trey Smith

One human behavior that most of us have little patience for is the individual who adopts a "holier than thou" stance. A situation arises and the pompously pious person wags their finger in your face explaining how THEY would never have addressed it in such a stupid, clumsy or evil way that you did. As bad as this behavior is, it's even more galling when that same person later is found to address a similar situation in the exact same way or worse! And yet, they continue to wag their finger at you.

I often think that much of the rest of the world gets damn sick and tired of the US government wagging their fingers at others for the same type of sins we routinely commit. This is the quintessential essence of American Exceptionalism. In his Tuesday column, Glenn Greenwald offers a clear example of this.

For several decades, the US government - in annual "human rights" reports issued by the State Department (reports mandated by the US Congress) - has formally condemned nations around the globe for the practice of indefinite detention: imprisoning people without charges or any fixed sentence. These reports, said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in her preface to last year's document, are grounded in the principle that "respect for human rights is not a western construct or a uniquely American ideal; it is the foundation for peace and stability everywhere." That 2011 report condemned numerous nations for indefinite detention, including Libya ("abuse and lack of review in detention"), Uzbekistan ("arbitrary arrest and detention"), Syria ("arbitrary arrest and detention"), and Iran ("Authorities held detainees, at times incommunicado, often for weeks or months without charge or trial").

In Afghanistan and Iraq, the US government is engaged in a fierce and protracted battle over the fundamental right to be free of indefinite detention. Specifically, the US is demanding that the governments of those two nations cease extending this right to their citizens. As a Washington Post article this morning details, Afghan President Hamid Karzai is insisting that the US fulfill its commitment to turn over all prisons, including the notorious facility at Bagram, to Afghan control, but here is one major impediment [emphasis added]:

"Afghan and U.S. officials have also disagreed on the issue of detention without trial. Washington wants the Afghan government to continue holding certain prisoners it views as dangerous, even if there is not enough evidence to try them.

"Aimal Faizi, the chief spokesman for Karzai, told reporters Monday that detention without trial is illegal in Afghanistan and that more than 50 Afghans are still being held in U.S. custody at Bagram, 35 miles northeast of Kabul, even though they have been ordered released by Afghan courts."

The US has long been demanding that the Afghan government continue the American practice of indefinite detention without charges, and still presses this demand even after the top Afghan court in September ruled that such detentions violate Afghan law.

He goes on to show that this same argument is being lodged by the US with the Iraqi government. As Greenwald aptly points out, this call for indefinite detention is ironic as hell since the US has declared that our wars in these two countries are spurred by our unflinching desire to bring "democracy and freedom" to the Afghans and Iraqis.

Some freedom, indeed!!