By Kenneth J. Theisen
As part of writing for the World Can’t wait site I regularly read the
U.S. Department of Defense’s website. On May 6th I was struck by one
of the articles on the Pentagon’s site. It was entitled, “Coalition
Troops Teach International Law to Iraqi Forces.” The article reports
that troops in the 82nd Airborne Division are training “Iraqi soldiers
and police on international law and human rights.”
Army Capt. Eric Widmar stated “The course was focused on training legal advisors and operators for the Iraqi security forces. The focus was to train them on the Laws of Armed Conflict with a focus on the Geneva Conventions and the Hague Conventions. The legal obligation to distinguish between combatants and civilians, the legal obligation to care for the wounded and the treatment of detainees and other human rights subjects were taught.”
What irony? Military members of a nation that violated international law by invading Iraq are now purportedly teaching Iraqis about the laws which they themselves are violating. The treatment of detainees? Give me a break. The army that maintains hellhole prisons like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo is teaching the Iraq army about treatment of detainees? Do they refer to the Geneva Conventions as “quaint” like former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales? Do they review John Yoo’s memo on acceptable torture techniques?
A country that considers the deaths of civilians as “collateral damage” is lecturing others about the “legal obligation to distinguish between combatants and civilians.” In the lecture does the army take credit for the hundreds of thousands of Iraqi civilians who have died as a direct result of the U.S. invasion?
For those who want to read what a great job the U.S. military is doing in educating Iraqis on the fine points of international law, see http://www.defenselink.mil/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=49789 . This is the BS that the military feeds to its troops and its supporters. Unfortunately it just makes me gag.
For the truth, I would refer readers to the Winter Soldier testimony on this site.
Ken Theisen is a veteran activist of movements opposing U.S. imperialism, its wars and domination of countries throughout the world, and an advocate against domestic violence in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Take some time to find out just what laws the U.S. has violated. Does ‘war’ excuse every heinous act and does that make it okay? The U.S. signed the Geneva Conventions, they are treaties. Is it okay to go against your word,ie a signed treaty, especially when you are a sovereign nation who continually holds itself up as a ‘beacon of light’? Saddamm Hussein was put in power BY the U.S. gov’t. Really you seem to be ill-informed about these issues. Come back and comment when you know more about the subject. Google “Nuremberg Principles”, read some of those links thoroughly, then google some information about Pres. Bush’s grandfather, then get back to commenting.
Thanks.
How did the US violate the laws? Sure every war and conflict has mistakes, but it is WAR!!! Are there really any laws? We do follow the Geneva and Hague conventions, trust me. Us training them is the right thing, they used to serve SADDAM HUSSEIN, or did you forget about that? DUH