Hail Caesar

A must read from Digby. And not just some run of the mill must read, but a truly chilling one.

Digby is offering Conquering the Drawbacks of Democracy By Philip Atkinson. Atkinson is, of course, a winger.

The wisest course would have been for President Bush to use his nuclear weapons to slaughter Iraqis until they complied with his demands, or until they were all dead. Then there would be little risk or expense and no American army would be left exposed. But if he did this, his cowardly electorate would have instantly ended his term of office, if not his freedom or his life.

The simple truth that modern weapons now mean a nation must practice genocide or commit suicide. Israel provides the perfect example. If the Israelis do not raze Iran, the Iranians will fulfill their boast and wipe Israel off the face of the earth. Yet Israel is not popular, and so is denied permission to defend itself. In the same vein, President Bush cannot do what is necessary for the survival of Americans. He cannot use the nation's powerful weapons. All he can do is try and discover a result that will be popular with Americans.

Now we lefties do tend to be abrasive, profane, cynical, but we rarely (never?) suggest genocide as a solution to any problem.

U.S. Congress: saying "eliminated from the pages of history" is genocide

In my opinion, Alice Through the Looking Glass had it easy. The world's gone completely bat shit crazy and I just can't cope.

A few days ago, ever vigilant to show its obeisance to Israel, the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to urge the United Nations to charge Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with genocide because of his statement that Israel will be "eliminated from the pages of history," naturally claimed by Congress to have been a call "for the destruction of the State of Israel." This despite Ahmadinejad's very clear statement that the "wiping out" he was referring to is precisely the kind of "wiping out" that happened to the Soviet Union, and has nothing to do with "a fight between Judaism and other religions."

Only two members of the House voted against the resolution, Republican Ron Paul and Democrat Dennis Kucinich. A handful of others voted "present" or didn't vote. All the rest voted for this absurd resolution.

Thank you to Left I on the News from whom I stole this post in its entirety.

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Top UN court rules Serbia did not commit genocide

This is really just an FYI. Although the decision wasn't unanimous, it was pretty lopsided.

The top U.N. court ruled on Monday that Serbia did not commit genocide through the killing that ravaged Bosnia during the 1992-95 war, but said Serbia had failed in its obligation to prevent and punish genocide.

The International Court of Justice President Judge Rosalyn Higgins said: "The court finds by 13 votes to 2 that Serbia has not committed genocide".

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A related item.

Sudan blocks U.N. human rights mission over envoy

Sometimes politics just fucking piss me off, but that just may be me.

Granted genocide is a major accusation, but I'm sorry, 200,000 dead probably qualifies whether the UN agrees with me or not. What is the UN threshold for labeling actions in a country genocide? Just asking.

And I don't expect an answer.

Sudan will not allow a U.N. human rights team to visit unless they replace a member of the delegation who Khartoum says is biased, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Monday.

A six-member U.N. rights team was due to arrive this week in Sudan to investigate alleged abuses in Darfur. But the government has said they will not get visas.

"We have ... issues about one specific person in the delegation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ali el-Sadig said.

"Before coming to Sudan this person made comments which were totally not objective and so this person is unacceptable to us and must be changed before this delegation will be allowed to enter Sudan."

Another source in the Foreign Ministry said Sudan objected to the presence of Guyanese Bertrand Ramcharan, the former U.N. deputy high commissioner for human rights.

"He made comments referring to genocide and saying the government needed to do more right after he was appointed," the source told Reuters.

Sima Samar, the U.N. special rapporteur for human rights in Sudan, visited Darfur last August. The Geneva-based U.N. rights council has been criticised for its ineffectiveness on Darfur.

Washington calls the four years of rape, murder and pillage in Darfur genocide, a term Khartoum rejects and European governments have been reluctant to use.

A U.N.-appointed commission of inquiry found no genocide, but said heinous war crimes no less serious than genocide had taken place in Darfur. It also said individuals may have acted with genocidal intent.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is due to present its first case on Darfur this month. Experts estimate 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million driven from their homes.

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