Cuba and Saddam
The Cuban government has denounced the execution of Saddam Hussein, calling it an “illegal act” and “assassination.” You can also check out Human Rights Watch’s analysis of the problems with the trial.
The problem, though, is that the Cuban government found itself compelled to acknowledge that it also uses the death penalty. You can also see Human Rights Watch’s discussion of how political prisoners do not receive fair trials in Cuba.
If you accuse another country of manipulating trials and killing people for political reasons while you do so yourself, how do you justify it? Easy. Blame someone else for your own laws:
The statement acknowledged that Cuba ''has not yet abolished the death penalty because of the brutal war imposed on it by the United States,'' referring to the U.S. government's policy to undermine the communist country, including trade and travel sanctions.
How much brutality around the world centers on blaming others for your own actions? The Bush administration ignores the constitution and blames Al Qaeda. The Cuban government ignores due process and blames the U.S.
4 comments:
At least the first instance isn't a total non-sequitor (even if it's self-defeating, quasi-authoritarian, and bad policy to boot).
"We execute people because of Yanqui sanctions" doesn't exactly pass the logic test.
I'm not sure. We have two propositions:
1. We are under attack, so we need to take away some of your rights.
2. We are under attack, so we need to kill our enemies.
I'd argue both are logical, though the second is indeed less logical if you qualify it as "They won't trade with us, so we need to kill people."
Hi Greg,
I edit the Human Rights Video page at Global Voices Online - www.globalvoicesonline.org/witness - and I quoted you in my latest post, on Saddam. Do drop by and take a look!
Sameer
OK, thanks--good post.
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