Has the Bush Administration Disgraced the United States in the eyes of the rest of the Democratic World?

Question

On Torture and American Values
The New York Times | Editorial

Sunday 07 October 2007

Once upon a time, it was the United States that urged all nations to obey the letter and the spirit of international treaties and protect human rights and liberties. American leaders denounced secret prisons where people were held without charges, tortured and killed. And the people in much of the world, if not their governments, respected the United States for its values.

The Bush administration has dishonored that history and squandered that respect. As an article on this newspaper’s front page last week laid out in disturbing detail, President Bush and his aides have not only condoned torture and abuse at secret prisons, but they have conducted a systematic campaign to mislead Congress, the American people and the world about those policies.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/07/opinion/07sun1.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

"After the attacks of 9/11, Mr. Bush authorized the creation of extralegal detention camps where Central Intelligence Agency operatives were told to extract information from prisoners who were captured and held in secret. Some of their methods — simulated drownings, extreme ranges of heat and cold, prolonged stress positions and isolation — had been classified as torture for decades by civilized nations. The administration clearly knew this; the C.I.A. modeled its techniques on the dungeons of Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Soviet Union.

The White House could never acknowledge that. So its lawyers concocted documents that redefined “torture” to neatly exclude the things American jailers were doing and hid the papers from Congress and the American people. Under Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, Mr. Bush’s loyal enabler, the Justice Department even declared that those acts did not violate the lower standard of “cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

vegaswoman-so what you seem to be saying is your interpretation of "Patriotism" is: smile and follow orders, instead of saying anything when our President is in violation of International Laws and our U.S. Constitution?

1) "A people that would give up liberty for security deserve neither liberty nor security" - Ben Franklin.

(2) "Patriotism means supporting your country all of the time, and your government when it deserves it" - Mark Twain.

Answer 1

Read these replies I can cleary see why the US is a disgrace in many peoples eyes. Why the Liberal bashing by so many? A liberal is open minded? surely thats what the US is founded apon, being open to all ideas? Communist certainly are not liberal nor where the Nazi's or North Korea, if anything they are the most conservative states every to exist, closed to any ideas outside their opinions. capatilism and socialism are all about liberalism, about being open to all ideas so the best ones thrive, so society benifits the most. Thats why the US has no respect, it's not because of your administration , it's because your closed to any one elses opinion, which is not what the US is meant to be about. If you want to be the what you once where, 100 years ago, a nation to revere, that don't just change your government, change your ideals, become liberal. It's hard to hate someone who is willing to look at your side of the story.

Answer 2

Interesting question. I think a lot of the scientific advances would have come from Europe anyway since most of the US are descended from European colonists. Maybe the innovations would not have happened as quickly though since Europe was economically crippled after the first world war. America's intervention in the wars and its advocacy for self determination greatly helped speed up the efforts to secure peace in Europe. However other than that I don't think the world would be in a much worse state than it is at the moment. Human rights movement would have went on regardless and Great Britain in particular was a big hotspot for Asian and African immigration. In fact the UK is a far more multicultural society today than the US.

Answer 3

Right or wrong,the vast majority of humans everywhere agree that one of the greatest most profound immorality is that called HYPOCRICY and make no mistake ,hypocricy IS a moral issue.

People are disgusted,irate and revoilted in many cases more about the hypocricy involved than the actual issue involving the hypocricy such as in the Senator Graig case.

As the asker notes,the US has gotten away for many years with their monumental hypocricy on a number of issues from democracy,freedom,liberty ,hegemony torture and a hundred more issues .

More specifically,the US and Americans strut around the world telling all and sundry what a CHRISTIAN NATION UNDER GOD THEY ARE and then proceed to violate every Christian moral/ethical tenet.

They cloak themselves in GOD AND CHRIST and preach and moralize to the world when in fact their atrocities are an anathama to the Christian faith.

The Iraqi war has at long last stripped the US of it's monumental pontification,holier-than-thou ,sanctimonious HYPOCRICY on an entire spectrum of issues from torture and killing of prisoners to abrogating a number of it's Internation Treaty obligations.

That the US decided to wage an ILLEGAL war of choice all based on a pack of filthy stinking lies that has so far resulted in the slaughter of over 400,000 INNOCENT Iraqi civilians is so astounding revealing of what the US is actually all about notwithstanding all the lies Americans have convinced themselves of .

http://www.huppi.com/kangaroo/CIAtimeline.html

http://www.serendipity.li/cia/cia_terr.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/10/AR2006101001442.html

With China rapidly becoming a world power and with Russia awakening again,the arrogant/beligerent US has squandered any respect and trust the countries and peoples of the world once had for the US.

It is truly the beginning of the fall of the American Empire .

One of the totally astounding revelations in the past 5 years is to seen Americans wring their hands whining "WHY DO THEY HATE US SO " .

These whiners can start understanding this worldwide dis-like/hate by reading the information in the URLs posted.

Americans have been PROPAGANDIZED as much and as well as any Russian,Chinese ,North Korean has been and like all propaganized peoples,they do not even know it and when it is pointed out they reject the claim totally .

And make ABSOLUTELY NO MISTAKE,the world no longer differentiates between the US government and the US people for even after Americans knew all about Bush's filthy stinking lies and vile behaviors ,they actually re-elected the mongering ,torturing SOB.

For all you good little CHRISTIAN AMERICANS I offer you a teaching by Christ who said to us :

"Those who live by the sword ,die by the sword"

and for those non-Christian Americans, "WHAT GOES AROUND,COMES AROUND)

Answer 4

Yep 110%!! It's sad to see that people actually believe there's a left and right, republican and democrat. Why not stick with what the Constitution says and maybe things would be better. But when BushCo have disgraced the US in more ways than thought imaginable, people follow blindly to whatever they're told. Now that's scary!!

Time to wake up, and demand change. Because these "elected" officials aren't doing crap.

Answer 5

Bush
and
his
entire
entourage
have
embarassed
the entire United States
.
I'm no
liberal
no conservative
no independent
I
don't
need
a
label
in
order
to
justify
what
I
believe.

Answer 6

YES!

But no-one in the US seems to be accepting it or doing anything about it.

Fighting for 'Democracy and Freedom'?

Who's ...exactly????

Answer 7

No. The NY Times? It's an opinion piece by one of the most biased rags out there. Why don't you just cite the daily kos also?

Answer 8

The USa is disgraced "Big time" to the rest of the world. In fact the troops and everyone involved with Iraq will soon be walking the "Walk of shame" due to the actions of bush and company. Shame on the USA!

Answer 9

No to the question, I will ignore the rant. Quoting the NYT isn't terribly intelligent, they have 0 credibility except in a liberal world. You are only going to give liberals a fuzzy feeling with this type of rant so please, by all means, enjoy!!!

Answer 10

Just to the heads-buried-in-the-sand liberals! Plus Al Queda hates the Bush Administration with a passion if that tells you anything!