More Lies From The Tablecloth

Obama's Ghost Prisons

(Obama Signing The Order To Close CIA Secret Prisons)

In 2009 Barack Obama became the first president in American history to openly curtail the liberties the CIA had taken with human rights around the world. In a historic signing, Obama sat alone as his pen put into law the limits to which the CIA could go in detaining of foreign nationals. This move was supposed to end the existence of secret prisons that the CIA was running in countries around the world. 

For European governments this was a call for celebration as they were now being promised that the CIA would stop using their countries to transport terrorist into custody. For Eastern European nations this meant that their airports would finally cease to be the last destination for countless terrorist coming from the Middle East. But all this was a hoax. All those "atta-boys" and pats on the back were for nothing.


 

When Libya fell to the rebels it became clear that CIA prisons were still in operation. And when those same rebels attacked the United States Embassy earlier this year... it was obvious that at least one was still in operation within Libya itself. The order Barack Obama had given was nothing but a rouse. This demand to end the rendition of terrorists in ghost prisons was a hollow command... the law had no teeth at all. 

So once again the world is watching as the "humanitarian" Barack Obama takes to the air in a campaign for "basic human rights". We are meant to ignore that this is the man who flew off to Egypt months after the rebellion so as to claim victory for a fight he had nothing to do with. This the man who claimed that his mere election to office had ushered in a new wave of "hope" around the world. This is the man who now rushes off to Burma so that he can talk about human rights while the Rohingya die at the hands of his hosts.

All this and we are to forget that this is also the man who has sat on the fence when dealing with Syria. We are meant to ignore Obama's waffling during the "Arab Spring" when the Green Revolution started in Iran. We are supposed to forget that Obama signed an order to end illegal prisons around the world only to be caught running one in Libya. 

When it comes to human rights issues... we are meant to forget everything we have learned about Barack Obama. 

No Place in a Civilized World

"...That's Slavery"
(part of the Lost Childhood series)

(Children in Yemen's Army)

In October of 2010 the Barack Obama administration began to put into place actions that would lead to United States military aid to countries using children as soldiers. This meant that countries like Libya, Yemen, and South Sudan would receive weapons, ammunition, and food for their armies while the children of those countries were being forced to kill or be killed. Yet this was the president that claimed to be the biggest humanitarian to ever take office in United States history. This was the guy who ran on a slogan of "Hope". But here he was offering the life blood of any military to countries forcing children to fight... countries who offered no such "hope" to their own future. 

“When a little boy is kidnapped, turned into a child soldier, forced to kill or be killed — that’s slavery,” Obama said in a speech at the Clinton Global Initiative. “It is barbaric, and it is evil, and it has no place in a civilized world. Now, as a nation, we’ve long rejected such cruelty.” (October 2012)

Slavery you say mister Obama? Barbaric you say mister President? Evil even? 

For three years now the United States has been offering military aid to the Congo and South Sudan. We have also been waiving almost all sanctions on Yemen and Libya. These are all actions that were banned under the Child Soldiers Protection Act of 2008 by the United States Congress. These are all actions that were banned so that we, the United States, would not be seen as offering comfort to armies that employ slavery and children as weapons. 

In 2010 Obama told the New York Times that the waiving of these sanctions were of "the national interest". But what is the national interest in allowing children to be "kidnapped" and dragged off to war? Why are we so invested in allowing children to serve in militias in Chad, Yemen, Libya, South Sudan, or the Congo? 

There is no national interest in allowing the oppressive regimes of these countries to continue to recruit and abduct children from all over the globe. In Nepal the children soldiers are used as front lines human shields and gun runners. Do we have a national interest in teaching children to run guns a little faster or to zig-zag a little more while being shot at? Do we have a national interest in telling children to not fall over when the first bullet hits them? 

“After such a strong statement against the exploitation of children, it seems bizarre that Obama would give a pass to countries using children in their armed forces and using US tax money to do that,” Jesse Eaves - World Vision.

When it comes down to the bottom line it should be obvious to all Americans that it is unacceptable for our tax dollars to be funding children on the battle field. We can not nor should not take the word of a President simply because he thinks the ends will justify the means. This is not an issue that can be compromised on. We are not a nation that holds such low morals that we can accept the abuse of children anywhere for any cause. We are a people that believe that all men are created equal and this applies directly to children and women. Therefore we can not accept a president that calls it "slavery" but will take no action to stop it. 

After all, was it not a previous president that went to war to end slavery of Michelle Obama's ancestors? So why is it that Barack Obama now finds it suitable that our military and our tax dollars would help keep children around the world in bondage?

Sources Used 

(Note not all Sources Listed)

The Malay Mail

http://www.mmail.com.my/story/barbaric-yet-us-turns-blind-eye-child-soldiers-32432

UPI.com

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/10/04/Groups-say-US-weak-on-child-soldier-ban/UPI-73781349364001/

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2010/10/28/Obama-waives-child-soldier-sanctions/UPI-40901288304465/?rel=73781349364001

Never Again Often Comes Too Late...

... If Never At All.
-


-
In Rwanda we as a world community watched as the words "Never Again" fell away. The Hutu militias swept the country with amazingly deadly speed. Rapes, mutilations, and murders earmarked their movement. The machete became their symbol.
-
All the while the UN stood helplessly by as the Canadian commander called for help... or if nothing else, permission to engage. The world that April failed to uphold those seemingly hollow words. Never Again.
-
Bosnia became a melting pot of ethnic radicals as Europe took a step back. For the first time since World War Two the world watched as death camps were built on European soil. The Serbs were set to destroy their enemies... on ethnic and religious grounds.
-
Civilians were targeted while the few combatants Bosnia could field were kept alive as an excuse for Serbian aggression. Muslims in Bosnia were then shipped of to camps or killed outright wherever they could be found. Artillery, grenades, and the infamous AK47 became the Serbian hallmarks.
-
We remained silent. Our world leaders left the innocent victims to the wolves. Once again we failed to uphold those two words. Never Again.
-
As the Arab Spring amped up we watched as Bahrain began to pit Sunni against Shiites. The stage was set for genocide once again. We got a few news stories about it. Some world leaders may have mumbled something or another about it. But once again we failed to address the issue... we failed to proclaim and stand behind those words "Never Again".
-
In Libya the politics of the West out weighed our commitment to preventing and stoping genocide. Instead we seemed to look the other way as arab Libyans began to slaughter their black countrymen. And once again we used the excuse of civil war to mask the ethnic cleansing Libyans engaged in. Worst yet, our support may have contributed to their success in killing on ethnic grounds. We not only failed to stop genocide but also may have supported it.
-
Time will tell just how often we have failed in this commitment. We will see in the years to come just how many lives need be lost before we actually act upon those words. Until then we must hold our governments and ourselves responsible for our shortcomings.
-



-
Never Again

Racist on the Right, Idiots on the Left.

-
Failure of American Politics in the Middle East.
-



-
Everyday we here in the United States wake to another day of freedom and liberty. We have never tasted the bitterness of true tyranny or the oppression under which the rest of the world lives. Even in our comrade nations across the pond there is a certain level of repression carried out by the so called Democracies. Yet when the Middle East erupts with the blood of its youth we stand on the sidelines waiting to see where this fight ends.
-
In Libya the nation's youth are fighting for their lives to topple the tyrant they grew up with. This man they are fighting, Moammar Gadhafi, has ruled them with an iron fist since the very day they took their first breath. They have had their freedoms stripped from the moment they opened their eyes for the first time. And now they are fighting tooth and nail to defeat the barbarian government that has oppressed them for decades.
-
The world we have called for far to long the "Islamic World" is awash in blood. For the first time this blood is being spilt in the name of liberty. It is a fight that gave birth to the very nation in which you live. It is a fight that we once took up against the tyranny of Great Britain. A fight we cherish in our own history. But when it comes to the freedoms of the Muslim we suddenly change our views.
-
Amongst the right wing in our society you will easily find the racist undertone that fuels their scepticism of the protesters in Libya, Morocco, Bahrain, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, and Iran. The right seems to fear the rise of a free and self governing Muslim nation. And this fear always arises from their fear of Islam itself.
-
Yes, it is true that a sect of Islam has fed the flames of hatred for the West. But it is also true that we ourselves helped to stoke those same flames. We exploited the Middle East once we found something we coveted more than freedom itself. We have propped up governments that were inherently corrupt so as to retain access to the oil upon which they sat. This is a fact the leftist like to fall upon. And it is historically correct.
-
However, the left fails to act when liberty is being so diligently pursued. They too seem to fail to realize that these are people who do not want an American backed government. These are people who are sick and tired of outside hands working their own self determination and national fate. These are also people who are dieing to get free of governments who are trying to oppress them with their own religion. These are people who want to be free. They want their countries back.
-
Today I listened to a radio host claim that we should be against these uprisings because they will "lead to the Muslim Brotherhood" taking power of all North Africa. He claimed that these are the same people who we "fought crusades against to kick out of Europe". And that is when he went on to claim that "radical Islam" was alive and well during the Moorish "occupation" of Spain and is still alive and well in Libya today.
-
This is the sort of racist banter that should not be tolerated. It is the same sort of racist banter that contributes to our failure to uphold the pursuit of liberty where ever and whenever it arises around the world. The view that these coming elections in the Middle East will be a "one time thing" are fueled by this narrow view of the people doing the voting.
-
In Iran the Green Movement took to the streets in protest of a rigged election. They fought for the toppling of a tyrant and even bleed in the streets while their oppressors took to bunkers. The United States did nothing during the 2009 uprising. Now the Green Movement is beginning to show up once more. They are ready to bleed for their cause once again. And once again they are ready to push for the fall of a tyrant.
-
These brave Iran youth show just why these coming elections will not be a "one time thing". If the militant tyrants take power again through rigged elections... the youth of the Middle East are ready to fight. They are true patriots ready to die if need be for the cause of liberty.
-
So why the American resistance to their fight for freedom?
-
Democrats in this country have a long history of not supporting anything they can not control. If their hands can't be in the mix then they suddenly loose interest. And these "radicals" can not be controlled. They can not be made to follow talking points or an approved template handed down to them from Washington. That is why Obama will not support them without first pointing out how he wants them to behave.
-
Republicans on the other hand have found themselves completely incapable of backing any Muslim uprising. If the word "Muslim" shows up than the Republicans instantly loose interest. Their racist views of the Middle East show up every time the Republicans talk about Islam or Muslims. They just can't seem to distinguish between the hijackers and the common man when it comes to Muslims.
-
This was all too clear when Egypt took to the streets to end the rule of a dictator. The youth of Egypt turned the Capitol's square into a stage for their protest. And when the tyrant pushed back... they turned that square into a battle field. They did not want an election in which the hardliners would be present. They did not want a rise of radical Islam. They simply wanted to take their country back.
-
When peace failed... I know, hard for a Democrat to believe... they took up any form of weapon they could find. Rocks, stones, concrete... anything that could be thrown was hurled at their armed assailants. That square was for a moment turned into Hell on Earth as David and Goliath went to battle once more. Yet the American media and American politicians failed to see this as an opportunity to defend freedom. We missed the bus so to speak.
-
In Libya we are seeing that same fight. However this time Goliath has hired mercenaries to wipe little David of the map. Gun ship helicopters have begun firing upon helpless protesters. And yet the spirit of freedom fights on. The very soul of liberty itself is still taking to the streets to strike at the heels of the tyrant whenever and where ever they can. Yet America remains paralyzed with indifference.
-
In the words of Rage Against the Machine, these are people who are trying to "take the power back". So why do we straddle the fence?
-
Many of the politicians who have been in power long enough in this country recall what happened when we got involved in Iran a couple decades ago. We backed the wrong side and we lost big. The people in power there today got there because we tried to serve our own self interest. We tried to manipulate the government of another country so as to prevent a government we did not like from coming to power. And what happened was just the opposite. That is why we don't help those seeking freedom in the Middle East today.
-
For Republicans the people seeking to free themselves from oppression are simply "ingrates" who are "prone to violence" and simply "can't grasp true democracy". For the Democrats these are the backwater children of the world who are just throwing another tantrum. For both parties it is just another episode that shows why we can't help Arabs.
-
For 24 yearold Gigi Ibrahim, an Egyptian woman, this fight shows just why the Arab World is ready for freedom. It is a fight that her twitter account has documented. It is a struggle that she has been helping gain ground since day one. For her and her comrades... they are down for the struggle no matter how long it takes. If another dictator comes to power than she and her fellow revolutionaries will take to the streets once again. They will fight... they will bleed... and if need be, they will die for the freedom we here in America live with every day.
-
So to finish this up, I believe that the politicians here in America are doing nothing on behalf of the oppressed Arab world because they fear that they are next. They fear that this spirit of an angry populus will spread. They want to retain power in much the same way as the Middle Eastern dictators. The only differance... next year we vote. The oppressed in the Middle East are fighting for the that right.
-








-
Source Documents for this Post.
-
Voice Of America
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/middle-east/Gadhafi-Loses-Support-of-Libyan-Officials-Denies-Fleeing-116643889.html
-
Altmuslimah
http://www.altmuslimah.com/a/b/b/4171/
-
PBS, Frontline
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/world/jan-june11/frontline_02-21.html