Obama, Play Tough Play Fair

Obama has addressed the C.I.A. workers when he visited their headquarters to say play tough play fair. It means that, following discussions with high ranking C.I.A. workers he understands that it is hard to protect the American people against those with no 'scruples' and that they feel they have to use any methods possible. Not to do so, and to be bound by U.S. law when the lawbreakers and terrorists do not have any constitution to constrain them is unfair they say and gives the CIA a harder job. It would mean the C.I.A. fighting with its hand tied behind his back and to some, it might seem that those arguing for higher standards are naive.

However Obama says that as Americans to be proud to call themselves Americans means that they must use not only their power, but their power and their values. It is not enough to hold up high standards only when it's easy to do so, but also when also it's hard to do so. In effect, President Obama is living up to his principles of fairness and justice, again setting high standards for his leadership of the U.S not just by word, but by action.

Source: Sky News, broadcast 21/4/09

Torture: the end justifies the means! Or does it?

Even though the techniques are morally wrong, if the government gets a conviction from the confession this is argued to be a good 'result'. Furthermore, because killing for terror (9/11, Madrid, London, Mumbai) is so wrong, the result of a conviction for a terror suspect has a high value. The value of the end result (in this case, conviction) is rated higher than the wrong of the means (techniques involving harm) and was therefore argued by Bush to be morally correct (end justifies the means).

However in my opinion this is absurdly wrong argument. It is wrong at every moment along the way and therefore the end result is also wrong. Every action was taken with the aim of obtaining a predetermined result (convicting) and is therefore unjust (not open and fair).

True result - the U.S. government gets confessions made under conditions harmful to the person being interrogated).

A conviction ascertained via 'torture' is not upheld in a court of criminal law. To get around this, what Bush did is to re-define torture by law to exclude waterboarding, a technique that causes extreme distress to the person being interrogated.

I think this is just playing with the letter of the law. The spirit of the law still applies, confession is obtained by wrongful practise and therefore invalid. Respect for Bush has gone down and level of hate in the world went up, everything has been escalated.

Another term Bush re-defined: Prisoner-Of-War, was re-defined to 'Enemy Combatant'. Why? To avoid the prisoner being granted rights under the Geneva Convention on War of course!

Obama has repealed this, thank God.


Sources: US drops 'Ememy Combatant' Term, BBC news website, accessed 14.3.09

Counter Terror With Justice!

'Support Amnesty International's Campaign, Counter Terror With Justice!'.

To find out more about the campaign, please go to 'http://www.amnesty.org/en/counter-terror-with-justice'

Binyam Mohamed has been returned to the U.K. as an ex-U.K. resident. He was illegally held at Guatanamo bay for 4 years out of a total of 7 years that he was imprisoned and since released without charges. He says he has been kidnapped, illegally detained and tortured with medieval methods and has experiences beyond his darkest nightmare, all orchestrated by the U.S. government.

His lowest moment was when those whom he thought he could turn to for support and protection, including the U.K. government had allied with his torturers. Aljazeera News footage shows Binyam walking off the plane looking thin and undernourished partly due to his hunger strike whilst being illegally detained.

Sources, Aljazeera News Hour 23/2/09 and Ex-Guatanamo inmate returns to U.K., Aljazeera News Website accessed 23/2/09 http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2009/02/2009223154524900913.html