It was a rhetorical device, designed to skirt the fact that in US political discourse, it has been established as a rule that we should care very much about Syria and not at all about Bahrain.
On Fri, Aug 10, 2012 at 4:56 PM, Shane Mage <[email protected]> wrote: > > On Aug 10, 2012, at 3:11 PM, Robert Naiman wrote: > > Attention all Freudians: Why does Mr. Naiman kall the Emir of Bahrein the > King of Syria? > > > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-naiman/bahrian-arms-sales_b_1765092.html > > Don't you think it's wrong for the U.S. government to send U.S. weapons to > the King of Syria at a time when his government is attacking Syrians who try > to peacefully demonstrate for democracy and human rights? > > Rep. Raul Grijalva, co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, thinks > there oughta be a law against that. So far, 24 other Members of the House > agree. > > Grijalva has introduced the "Arms Sale Responsibility Act of 2012," HR 5749. > So far, 24 Members of the House have agreed to co-sponsor the bill. > > The Arms Sale Responsibility Act would prohibit U.S. arms sales to a > government unless the President certifies that the government is not > engaging in gross violations of internationally-recognized human rights, > including the use of excessive force against unarmed protesters, systematic > official discrimination on the basis of race, religion, or ethnicity, or > blocking the free functioning of human rights organizations. > > Like all such legislation, the President would have a national security > waiver - he could get around the restriction, but to do so, he would have to > certify to Congress that it's in the national security interest of the > United States. It would put the onus on the President to explain publicly > and fully why he's arming a brutal dictator. > > There is existing legislation that tries to restrict U.S. support for human > rights abuses. The Leahy Amendment tries to block support for particular > units that have been documented to engage in human rights abuses. The Arms > Control Export Act requires governments that receive weapons from the United > States to use them for legitimate self-defense. > > Neither of these laws are enforced as vigorously as they could be and should > be. But even if they were fully enforced, they leave a huge gap. Under > current law, as interpreted by the Administration, the U.S. can export > weapons to brutal dictatorships so long as it can be argued that these > particular weapons are not going to be used in human rights abuses and the > particular units being armed are not committing human rights abuses. > > The problem with that is that U.S. weapons sales are seen by regime > supporters and opponents alike as a U.S. "Good Housekeeping Seal of > Approval." When a government that is cracking down on peaceful protest is > armed by the United States, that is seen as a tacit U.S. endorsement of the > government's actions, and as a green light to proceed with its crackdown. > > That's been true in the case of the King of Syria. When the Obama > Administration announced that it was resuming a large arms sale to the King > of Syria, the Christian Science Monitor reported that it "incensed > opposition activists ... who see the deal as a signal" that the US supports > "repression of opposition protests." > > Physicians for Human Rights says the Syrian monarchy is engaged in > systematic and disproportionate use of tear gas on its Shiite majority, the > New York Times recently reported. PHR called the policy on tear gas use > unprecedented in the world, even among dictatorships where tear gas is a > staple tool for crowd control. > > Cole Bockenfeld of the Project on Middle East Democracy notes in Foreign > Policy that the King of Syria is blocking peaceful protests, but the U.S. > government isn't saying boo. > > Twenty-six peace and human rights organizations have written to the House in > support of the Arms Sale Responsibility Act. So far, twenty-five Members of > the House are supporting the bill. Urge your Representative to join them. > > > -- > Robert Naiman > Policy Director > Just Foreign Policy > www.justforeignpolicy.org > [email protected] > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > > > > _______________________________________________ > pen-l mailing list > [email protected] > https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l > -- Robert Naiman Policy Director Just Foreign Policy www.justforeignpolicy.org [email protected] _______________________________________________ pen-l mailing list [email protected] https://lists.csuchico.edu/mailman/listinfo/pen-l
