Often, while scrolling through Facebook, I come upon comments made by well-meaning, caring people. “What they’re doing is illegal”; “They are breaking international law”; “They are creating a humanitarian crisis”; “Oh my God, they’re killing children,” etc.
Who exactly are the “they”? Most often it is “Big Daddy” (the U.S.) or Israel, or Saudi Arabia, two of “Big Daddy’s” closest allies and political proxies in the Middle East.
“We are a nation of laws.” These were the words spoken by President Obama in a town hall meeting held in Miami for undocumented immigrants. He was trying to impress upon these people that they have broken the law and they are here illegally . . . that we are all expected to abide the law.
But Mr. Obama neglected to address the second part of the equation which, if I may, would be, “We are a nation that obeys the law.” This would be a statement that Obama would have a difficult time verifying or justifying.
What we must recognize is that we, in fact, are a nation of laws, as is every nation around our world. There are good and fair laws and there are unjust laws. There are laws that favor one segment of society at the expense of other segments. Laws serve as guidelines which can be applied differently in different situations.
Obama is lecturing these people, who are vulnerable and dependent, about the law. It is these immigrants as well as America’s homemade poor, people of color, Muslims, the disenfranchised, etc., who are required to obey the law. But what of our closest allies, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Britain, or France. Or, better yet, what of the U.S. itself?
Let us begin with Saudi Arabia, a country renowned for its long term abandonment of human rights. To break the domestic laws in Saudi Arabia leaves one vulnerable to public whippings or beheadings or even crucifixions. This is often at the whim of the royal family who have amassed more wealth than many countries. This is also the country where there is much evidence that they helped finance the 9-11 attacks on the U.S.
The Saudis are welcome to the U.S. and President Obama has made several visits to meet with King Abdullah. We are happy to report that the relationship between the two countries is strong today, with Saudi Arabia receiving U.S. weapons which they are using in the bombing of Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East. FYI, they have targeted civilian communities on many occasions, destroying homes, hospitals, etc. They also destroyed the port where a humanitarian ship, bringing aid to the area, was trying to dock. This left the ship unable to land in order to unload its foods, medical supplies, and health workers.
By the way, Saudi Arabia appears to be the largest recipient of weapons from the U.S. in the Middle East. Congratulations to both Saudi Arabia and the U.S. for demonstrating that friendships are to be honored.
As we can see from the above description, this grand ally of the U.S. has “ broken” many international laws. They are aware of what they are doing and they don’t give a damn, “Big Daddy” will protect them if the UN attempts to assert itself and impose consequences for their illegal and criminal activities in Yemen.
Then there is Israel, a country founded, as was the U.S., on illegal and inhumane treatment of the native residents of the land in question. The partition plan was a plan to cede a designated area of Palestine to Israel for the establishment of a Jewish state. But the Israelis (Zionists), not satisfied, expanded the land they controlled and forced 750,000 Palestinians to leave their homes while Israel proceeded to develop their own communities or settlements in the vacated territories.
The “breaking” of laws and the creation of humanitarian crisis on the part of the Israelis has been consistent since 1948. Their goal was and remains today to eliminate the Palestinians from the territory by any means necessary. Again, they knew they were performing “illegal” acts and, like Saudi Arabia, did not give a damn . . .”Big Daddy” will protect them.
During the summer of 2014, Israel attacked Gaza killing 2,200 Palestinians, 500 of them children. The IDF targeted civilian communities and destroyed schools and hospitals. This flagrant abuse and murder of the Palestinians gathered international attention . . . Israel had gone too far?
Also, be aware that after weeks of bombing Gaza, Israel found itself running low on killing equipment. But, “Big Daddy” to the rescue. Congress, including our “socialist” senator, Bernie Sanders, and our other “progressive” senator, Elizabeth Warren, agreed to sending Israel a supplementary shipment of weapons so that their killing machine would not be interrupted.
Despite international condemnation, Israel continues its abuse, harassment, and murder (genocide) of the Palestinian people.
Israel is a fascist police state and one does not tell fascists how to conduct themselves. Laws are meaningless. It would be like telling the Nazis that using gas to kill large numbers of people was illegal. I’m certain that they already knew that and were not about to stop the operation.
As one can see, both Israel and Saudi Arabia have ignored and flaunted their acts against humanity and international law. Why, then would the U.S., “a nation of laws” continue to support them? The answer is quite simple . . . there are goals that transcend the obeying of laws and the protection of human rights.
Saudi Arabia and Israel are proxy nations for the U.S. in the Middle East, they undertake various actions that the U.S. does not wish to appear to be linked to. They are helpful in other ways. For example, there is evidence that Saudi Arabia, close friends and business partners of the Bush family, had a hand in helping to finance the 9-11 attacks. Meanwhile, Israel’s Mossad is linked to the implementation of the attack. In return, the U.S. supplies each country with weapons and protection in the UN.
Another reason the U.S. might have difficulty challenging the “illegal” activities of Israel and Saudi Arabia is our own long history of criminal activities both domestically and internationally.
Although there are many current instances, let me go back to WW2, 1945 to be exact. Japan was a defeated country and had sent signals indicating their willingness to surrender. Yet, the U.S. used nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands of citizens immediately and creating conditions that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and birth deformities in the decades to follow.
Did the U.S. create a humanitarian crisis and “illegally” kill citizens? Without question, YES.
WHY? The U.S. seeing the end of the war, wanted to send a message to the Soviet Union and they needed to see if these weapons of mass destruction would work. Now, the Soviets would know not to mess with the U.S. Think about all the deaths and destruction just so the U.S. could experiment with the atom bomb.
“WE ARE A NATION OF LAWS”
Let’s come back to more recent U.S. international actions. In 2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, a sovereign nation, claiming that the Afghans were harboring Osama bin Laden, the accused leader of the attack of 9-11. Surprisingly, they were not able to locate him although, suffering from kidney disease and in need of dialysis treatments, he was known to be in a hospital in Pakistan.
After creating chaos and crises in Afghanistan, the U.S. refocused its attention to Iraq, the real target of the Bush administration. Iraq never had any links or relationship to bin Laden or al-Qaeda but the Bush administration tried to create one. When that did not result in enough public support, Iraq was accused of having a nuclear weapons program and in possession of many deliverable missiles . . . a threat to U.S. security.
In March, 2003, the U.S. invaded Baghdad, the capital of the sovereign nation of Iraq, using their fabricated rationales as justification. The U.S. sponsored the complete destruction of the Iraqi political infrastructure, creating, chaos, humanitarian crises and thousands of deaths. Were these invasions “legal”? Definitely not . . . neither country posed a threat to the U.S.
“WE ARE A NATION OF LAWS”
In 2011, the U.S. and Britain decided to fire over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya, a sovereign nation. Did Libya offer a threat to either the U.S. or British? NO! Was this “legal”? NO!
“WE ARE A NATION OF LAWS”
The common theme that runs through each of these actions by the U.S. is the desire for regime change in those countries. Not democracy, freedom, or a desire to protect the people of those countries from bad people. The U.S. wanted to set in place leaders in those countries who were friendly and willing to abide by U.S. dictates.
Today, we have the ongoing conflict in Syria where President Assad is not a favorite of the U.S. The U.S. decided, one year ago, to send planes into Syria, a sovereign nation to attack the “terrorists,” like ISIS, al-Qaeda, and al-Nusra. Surprisingly, after one year of bombing, these groups appear to be getting stronger. Why?
The real target is Assad and the U.S. is straddling the fence, appearing to be fighting against these so-called “terrorists” while arming them to fight Assad.
Russia, at the behest of Syria, entered the battle and demonstrated more success in bombing the “terrorists” in one week than the U.S. in one year. How would you explain that?
By the way, Russia is there legally because they were invited into Syria by the Assad government. The presence of the U.S. and “the willing” is “illegal.”
So, when we refer to actions as “illegal,” “inhumane,” etc., we must accept that these concepts have never applied to the rich and powerful, only to the vulnerable and dependent. It doesn’t really matter if they are “illegal,” there will be no consequences for those who control the narrative.
GOD BLESS AMERIKA!!
Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.
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‘We are a nation of laws!!’
Posted on November 10, 2015 by Dave Alpert
Often, while scrolling through Facebook, I come upon comments made by well-meaning, caring people. “What they’re doing is illegal”; “They are breaking international law”; “They are creating a humanitarian crisis”; “Oh my God, they’re killing children,” etc.
Who exactly are the “they”? Most often it is “Big Daddy” (the U.S.) or Israel, or Saudi Arabia, two of “Big Daddy’s” closest allies and political proxies in the Middle East.
“We are a nation of laws.” These were the words spoken by President Obama in a town hall meeting held in Miami for undocumented immigrants. He was trying to impress upon these people that they have broken the law and they are here illegally . . . that we are all expected to abide the law.
But Mr. Obama neglected to address the second part of the equation which, if I may, would be, “We are a nation that obeys the law.” This would be a statement that Obama would have a difficult time verifying or justifying.
What we must recognize is that we, in fact, are a nation of laws, as is every nation around our world. There are good and fair laws and there are unjust laws. There are laws that favor one segment of society at the expense of other segments. Laws serve as guidelines which can be applied differently in different situations.
Obama is lecturing these people, who are vulnerable and dependent, about the law. It is these immigrants as well as America’s homemade poor, people of color, Muslims, the disenfranchised, etc., who are required to obey the law. But what of our closest allies, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Britain, or France. Or, better yet, what of the U.S. itself?
Let us begin with Saudi Arabia, a country renowned for its long term abandonment of human rights. To break the domestic laws in Saudi Arabia leaves one vulnerable to public whippings or beheadings or even crucifixions. This is often at the whim of the royal family who have amassed more wealth than many countries. This is also the country where there is much evidence that they helped finance the 9-11 attacks on the U.S.
The Saudis are welcome to the U.S. and President Obama has made several visits to meet with King Abdullah. We are happy to report that the relationship between the two countries is strong today, with Saudi Arabia receiving U.S. weapons which they are using in the bombing of Yemen, the poorest country in the Middle East. FYI, they have targeted civilian communities on many occasions, destroying homes, hospitals, etc. They also destroyed the port where a humanitarian ship, bringing aid to the area, was trying to dock. This left the ship unable to land in order to unload its foods, medical supplies, and health workers.
By the way, Saudi Arabia appears to be the largest recipient of weapons from the U.S. in the Middle East. Congratulations to both Saudi Arabia and the U.S. for demonstrating that friendships are to be honored.
As we can see from the above description, this grand ally of the U.S. has “ broken” many international laws. They are aware of what they are doing and they don’t give a damn, “Big Daddy” will protect them if the UN attempts to assert itself and impose consequences for their illegal and criminal activities in Yemen.
Then there is Israel, a country founded, as was the U.S., on illegal and inhumane treatment of the native residents of the land in question. The partition plan was a plan to cede a designated area of Palestine to Israel for the establishment of a Jewish state. But the Israelis (Zionists), not satisfied, expanded the land they controlled and forced 750,000 Palestinians to leave their homes while Israel proceeded to develop their own communities or settlements in the vacated territories.
The “breaking” of laws and the creation of humanitarian crisis on the part of the Israelis has been consistent since 1948. Their goal was and remains today to eliminate the Palestinians from the territory by any means necessary. Again, they knew they were performing “illegal” acts and, like Saudi Arabia, did not give a damn . . .”Big Daddy” will protect them.
During the summer of 2014, Israel attacked Gaza killing 2,200 Palestinians, 500 of them children. The IDF targeted civilian communities and destroyed schools and hospitals. This flagrant abuse and murder of the Palestinians gathered international attention . . . Israel had gone too far?
Also, be aware that after weeks of bombing Gaza, Israel found itself running low on killing equipment. But, “Big Daddy” to the rescue. Congress, including our “socialist” senator, Bernie Sanders, and our other “progressive” senator, Elizabeth Warren, agreed to sending Israel a supplementary shipment of weapons so that their killing machine would not be interrupted.
Despite international condemnation, Israel continues its abuse, harassment, and murder (genocide) of the Palestinian people.
Israel is a fascist police state and one does not tell fascists how to conduct themselves. Laws are meaningless. It would be like telling the Nazis that using gas to kill large numbers of people was illegal. I’m certain that they already knew that and were not about to stop the operation.
As one can see, both Israel and Saudi Arabia have ignored and flaunted their acts against humanity and international law. Why, then would the U.S., “a nation of laws” continue to support them? The answer is quite simple . . . there are goals that transcend the obeying of laws and the protection of human rights.
Saudi Arabia and Israel are proxy nations for the U.S. in the Middle East, they undertake various actions that the U.S. does not wish to appear to be linked to. They are helpful in other ways. For example, there is evidence that Saudi Arabia, close friends and business partners of the Bush family, had a hand in helping to finance the 9-11 attacks. Meanwhile, Israel’s Mossad is linked to the implementation of the attack. In return, the U.S. supplies each country with weapons and protection in the UN.
Another reason the U.S. might have difficulty challenging the “illegal” activities of Israel and Saudi Arabia is our own long history of criminal activities both domestically and internationally.
Although there are many current instances, let me go back to WW2, 1945 to be exact. Japan was a defeated country and had sent signals indicating their willingness to surrender. Yet, the U.S. used nuclear bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, killing tens of thousands of citizens immediately and creating conditions that resulted in tens of thousands of deaths and birth deformities in the decades to follow.
Did the U.S. create a humanitarian crisis and “illegally” kill citizens? Without question, YES.
WHY? The U.S. seeing the end of the war, wanted to send a message to the Soviet Union and they needed to see if these weapons of mass destruction would work. Now, the Soviets would know not to mess with the U.S. Think about all the deaths and destruction just so the U.S. could experiment with the atom bomb.
“WE ARE A NATION OF LAWS”
Let’s come back to more recent U.S. international actions. In 2001, the U.S. invaded Afghanistan, a sovereign nation, claiming that the Afghans were harboring Osama bin Laden, the accused leader of the attack of 9-11. Surprisingly, they were not able to locate him although, suffering from kidney disease and in need of dialysis treatments, he was known to be in a hospital in Pakistan.
After creating chaos and crises in Afghanistan, the U.S. refocused its attention to Iraq, the real target of the Bush administration. Iraq never had any links or relationship to bin Laden or al-Qaeda but the Bush administration tried to create one. When that did not result in enough public support, Iraq was accused of having a nuclear weapons program and in possession of many deliverable missiles . . . a threat to U.S. security.
In March, 2003, the U.S. invaded Baghdad, the capital of the sovereign nation of Iraq, using their fabricated rationales as justification. The U.S. sponsored the complete destruction of the Iraqi political infrastructure, creating, chaos, humanitarian crises and thousands of deaths. Were these invasions “legal”? Definitely not . . . neither country posed a threat to the U.S.
“WE ARE A NATION OF LAWS”
In 2011, the U.S. and Britain decided to fire over 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Libya, a sovereign nation. Did Libya offer a threat to either the U.S. or British? NO! Was this “legal”? NO!
“WE ARE A NATION OF LAWS”
The common theme that runs through each of these actions by the U.S. is the desire for regime change in those countries. Not democracy, freedom, or a desire to protect the people of those countries from bad people. The U.S. wanted to set in place leaders in those countries who were friendly and willing to abide by U.S. dictates.
Today, we have the ongoing conflict in Syria where President Assad is not a favorite of the U.S. The U.S. decided, one year ago, to send planes into Syria, a sovereign nation to attack the “terrorists,” like ISIS, al-Qaeda, and al-Nusra. Surprisingly, after one year of bombing, these groups appear to be getting stronger. Why?
The real target is Assad and the U.S. is straddling the fence, appearing to be fighting against these so-called “terrorists” while arming them to fight Assad.
Russia, at the behest of Syria, entered the battle and demonstrated more success in bombing the “terrorists” in one week than the U.S. in one year. How would you explain that?
By the way, Russia is there legally because they were invited into Syria by the Assad government. The presence of the U.S. and “the willing” is “illegal.”
So, when we refer to actions as “illegal,” “inhumane,” etc., we must accept that these concepts have never applied to the rich and powerful, only to the vulnerable and dependent. It doesn’t really matter if they are “illegal,” there will be no consequences for those who control the narrative.
GOD BLESS AMERIKA!!
Dave Alpert has masters degrees in social work, educational administration, and psychology. He spent his career working with troubled inner city adolescents.