I oppose death penalty in most of the cases sanctioned by law, except when it comes to parents who sexually abuse their children and torture then kill them, and Richard Cheney. I hold the former U.S. Vice President responsible for leading the war gang that brought together the advocates of an American empire and the neo conservatives, whose only allegiance is to the state of Israel. With the death of nearly a million Iraqis, the justice of both heaven and earth will not be upheld unless those responsible for their death are tried and convicted. I have written about this war criminal more than once, especially after the uproar in the US over the torture of prisoners and the role of Cheney, he who violated national laws to practice his sadism both in secret and in public. I collected new information on the man, especially as he constantly appears on television to defend the Bush administration, widely condemned by both American and worldwide public opinion. But I will leave this to another day. For in today's column, I will comment on Cheney's speech at the American Enterprise Institute, the den of American Likudnik and neo-conservatives. The speech was a combination of the lies, insolence and prevarication that have characterized the Bush administration and made the United States the most hated country in the world ... along with Israel. I can only be brief and selective here. Cheney mentioned the terrorist attacks on the United States prior to 9/11, such as the bombing of the World Trade Centre in 1993, the attack on the American compound in Riyadh in 1995 and on the Marines headquarters in Khobar in 1996, the attack on the U.S. embassies in East Africa in 1998, and the murder of U.S. sailors onboard the USS Cole in Aden in 2000. Cheney does not ask why terrorists focus their attacks on the United States alone, shying away from attacking two former colonial powers, France and Britain (with the attacks in London and Madrid attributed to the two countries' their alliance with America), or even Russia in light of the crimes that the Soviet Union committed against the countries of Eastern Europe. The copy I have of Cheney's speech is in 11 pages. It recalls the terrorist incidents on the first page, and waits until the sixth page to present the most contemptible reason and least truthful behind terrorism, when he says: “Terrorists hate this country precisely because of the values we profess and seek to live by.” Does anyone in the world believe, or does Cheney himself believe, this talk about the terrorists' hatred of American “values”? If the issue is really about values, then there are much more noble values in Scandinavian countries and in all the countries of Western Europe than there are in the United States. Yet, we have never heard that the terrorists have tried to target Sweden or Switzerland for example. I personally do not believe this allegation, even if I hear it from the terrorists, who are semi illiterate criminals and enemies of Islam itself and all religions. It is impossible for them to know what American values are; it is impossible for these values to be the motive behind their terrorist attacks, be they suicide bombings or otherwise. Cheney adds more reasons behind the terrorist attacks on the US. He says, “Our belief in freedom of speech and religion ... our belief in equal rights for women ... our support for Israel ... our cultural and political influence in the world.” Interestingly, Cheney managed to insert the support for Israel between the freedom of speech and religion and the rights of women on the one hand, and cultural and political influence on the other. Of course, if the issue was women's rights and freedoms, then there are at least 30 Western countries that are ahead of the United States in this regard, and which do not find themselves targeted by terrorists. As for the cultural influence, it is in the entire West - perhaps the US is better at making Disney films. Then there is the political influence exercised by the United States with the diplomacy of gunboats. The main issue has to do with Israel and the crime of the occupation that has been ongoing for 61 years and again since 41 years, with direct U.S military, political and economic support, at least since 1967. This is the original sin in the American policy championed by the likes of Cheney and the Likudniks in the Bush administration. In his speech, Cheney tried to justify torture, as if he was practicing his defence speech for the international war crimes tribunal. He warned of a nuclear terrorist attack, a known and old method of fear mongering, although if the U.S foreign policy does not change with President Barack Obama, as we hope and expect, Cheney will keep crying wolf until he sees the wolf at his door. In all cases, the platform on which Dick Cheney should stand must be the scaffold, not the podium. http://www.j-khazen.blogspot.com/
