The Company We Keep

The sad thing is it needs to be restated:

Powerful governments and armed groups are spreading fear to divert attention from human rights abuses, exacerbating polarization in an increasingly dangerous world, Amnesty International said yesterday in its annual assessment of rights worldwide.

[...]

The United States is "the leading country using fear to justify the unjustifiable," said Larry Cox, executive director of Amnesty International USA. "The U.S. used to be in a position to speak out effectively against torture and military tribunals. We can't do that now because we are carrying out some of the same practices," he said.

The organization urged the new U.S. Congress to take the lead in restoring respect for humane standards and practices at home and abroad.

Fat chance of Congress doing anything to restore dignity to the US.

Citizens in many countries are being manipulated by fear, the group said. In Iran, attacks on civil society and the arrests of journalists and scholars are being carried out in the name of protecting the country from a U.S. attack, Cox said. The Sudanese government has warned about the country's possible colonization as it tries to minimize the gravity of the conflict in Darfur.

And on it goes. The US is in the fine company of Iran, Sudan, Egypt, Russia, Sri Lanka, and on and on. (What's the old saying about judging a person by the company they keep? The same goes for nations.)

Another legacy of the last 6+ years that will take years more to clean up.

Full report here.

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