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UPDATED: December 6, 2005 CONDOLEEZZA RICE’S BOGUS JOURNEY
Condoleezza
Rice journeys
“Fill me from the crown to
the toe top-full of direst cruelty. Make thick my blood!” The signs for her journey into Europe are unfavorable. The omens portend a dubious and difficult time ahead for America’s standing in the world. The peoples of Europe, Asia, Africa, Australasia and the Americas are unanimously appalled at the detailed reports of the chain of torture dungeons hidden away in secret prisons operated by the Pentagon and the CIA under strict orders from the Bush-Cheney-Rice White House. These secret torture facilities are arrayed in a darkening arc spanning across Eastern Europe and into the Middle East and extending outward into remote regions of western Asia.
When
Europeans confront her about torture, Defending torture is the central objective of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s European mission this week in the yuletide run-up to the first days of Christmas. Over the next few days Secretary Rice will meet in virtual secrecy with several governments in Europe. During this whirlwind series of meetings with our most prominent and powerful allies, Secretary Rice will encounter many officials who will interrogate her about America’s abuse of their nations’ airspace and airport facilities by the undercover transportation of untold numbers of prisoners to America’s secret offshore torture-chambers. The covert tactic of sending prisoners to offshore torture chambers was engineered to isolate them from their constitutional rights in order to apply physical pain and stress and to force them to divulge intelligence about their involvement in terror. Based on his public statements of last week, there can be no serious doubt that Vice President Dick Cheney is the primary advocate of torture in America. This week, Secretary Rice will stand shoulder to shoulder with her Vice President in embracing the use of torture by American military and intelligence personnel. According to reports circulating in many major international journals, Secretary Rice will firmly and categorically reject any criticism of the secret US torture chambers and their clandestine methods for inducing prisoners to cooperate with their American tormentors. Already, Secretary Rice’s chief opponent for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, Senator John McCain, has gone on record in America as opposed to the torture of prisoners held in US custody. While appearing on Meet the Press this weekend, Senator McCain argued that intelligence gained through torture was of little or no credibility. Going further, Senator McCain said that torture was bad policy since it led to misinformation, disinformation and worse, for it severely damages the global reputation of the United States which has suffered so badly in the wake of the war in Iraq. Torture is clearly one issue that presents a stark contrast between Senator McCain and Secretary Rice. McCain genuinely opposes torture. Rice earnestly supports it. Dubbed Bush’s “Terminatrix,” Secretary Rice has been labeled as the White House’s Lady Macbeth-in-Residence. Lady Macbeth surpassed her husband in ambition, guile and ruthlessness. She beguiled and compelled him to assassinate his rivals for the throne of Scotland.
Condoleezza Rice
is now moving ahead Coming to the rescue of the President and Vice-President at this torturous point in what has literally become a torturous plot; Secretary Rice does seem like Lady Macbeth, who spoke the following words when her husband voiced his fears of failure: “Screw your courage to the sticking-place, and we’ll not fail.” And, later at yet another moment of indecision, Lady Macbeth implored her husband, “Infirm of purpose! Give me the daggers!” It is not really necessary to recall that Lady Macbeth was driven insane by the weight of guilt of her evil deeds. Eventually, she committed suicide, and her husband was killed, then beheaded by his enemies. As I stated at the start of this column, the signs bode ill for Condi Rice’s journey into torture. Sources
Saddam's trial
will not be fair, says United Nations
/ Violence against lawyers mars hearing, says official /
Plot to attack court foiled as tribunal resumes today
CIA's secret jails
open up new transatlantic rift
/ Hundreds of flights landed in Germany over 2 years / Seizure
of innocent people likely to embarrass Rice
Home truths for
European allies
/
Rice
rejects EU protests over secret terror prisons
/America does not break international law, Secretary of State
insists __________________ Since 1968, Michael Carmichael has been a professional political consultant. Beginning as a Student Coordinator for Robert F. Kennedy, he has worked in five US presidential campaigns as well as over 100 major American political campaigns for federal and state offices. In 1985, he founded The Oxford Centre for Public Affairs in the United Kingdom. In 2003, he founded The Planetary Movement Limited, a global public affairs organization based in the United Kingdom. He has appeared as a public affairs expert on the BBC, European Business News, NPR and many European television broadcasts examining American politics and culture. In addition to his column for The Political Junkies, he is a regular contributor to the Moving Planet weblog. See: www.planetarymovement.org and http://planetmove.blogspot.com/
Last Update: 03/23/2006 |
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