USA hypocrisy as justification for Iraq attacks: White House briefing
The USA reserves powers to the President that, when Saddam Hussein uses similar powers, the uses that fact as an excuse to attach Iraq
Recently, the USA approved powers for so called "extra-judicial killings" and it supports such actions by Israel in Palestine. Taking the right to track down and murder (it cannot be "execute" if there is no judicial order) those who oppose a regime is therefore now enshrined in US law.
The USA was, in the past, critical of a so called "shoot to kill" policy allegedly operated by the British army against suspected (as in unconvicted) terrorists in Northern Ireland but now sees the right to take such action both within and without its own borders as an imperative in the so called war on terrorism.
It is therefore interesting to note the comments of White House press secretary Ari Fleischer on 24 January with regard to part of the justification for the continued threats against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein. Fleischer said "let me share with you two things that have taken place, and these are very indicative. These are things that took place in the past that are indicative of the future.
"You're very familiar with the case of Hussein Kamel and Saddam Kamel, Saddam Hussein's sons-in-law who were killed in 1996 by Saddam Hussein. They were lured back into Iraq after they left the country. They were promised that all had been forgiven when they left the country, brought back in under different pretenses, and instantly executed at the order of Saddam Hussein.
"There's a scientist named Muayad Hassan al-Janabi. He was killed in Amman, Jordan, in 1992. He attempted to defect. He wanted to leave. He was tracked down by Iraqi security agents and executed. And as you well know from your reporting, this is a common practice for Saddam Hussein."
One has to ask one basic question: if it is a responsible act for one nation to kill be presidential decree, why is that same principle a cause for attack on another nation?
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