Paradox

In a stinging rebuke to the Bush administration, a federal judge ruled the case of "dirty bomb" suspect Jose Padilla is a matter for law enforcement not the military and ordered the government to charge him or let him go.

Padilla's more than 2 1/2 years in custody, most of it spent in a Navy brig, don't seem closer to an end, however, because Justice Department spokesman John Nowacki said the government will appeal the ruling.
  ABC News article

On one side of its mouth, the government violates human rights. While on the other....

The U.S. State Department offered candid assessments of the human rights records of nations across the world on Monday in what is perhaps the bluntest document that comes out of the U.S. bastion of diplomacy each year.

[...]

Acting Assistant Secretary Michael Kozak said the annual look at 196 countries around the world is not intended to "pass judgment" on the countries but rather to provide U.S. policymakers with the "information" they need to make "decent judgments."
  MSNBC article

This is the signature of the Bush Administration: Loudly and publicly accuse others of that which you are doing yourself.

State Department officials also noted that democracy cannot be "imposed" from the outside, but rather that the United States supports with those active inside tyrannies who stand for democracy.

Totally confused. Aren't Washington's claims about Iraq that we are bringing democracy to those people? Apparently it played well with the sheep, so now they are puffing up and crowing about democracy on a near daily basis. Oh wait - we didn't invade the country for one reason and then change reasons like bath water until we hit on one that played with the audience, we simply went in to support "the purple revolution".

Undersecretary Dobriansky noted the recent orange revolution in Ukraine, the purple revolution in Iraq (so-called because of the ink-stained fingers of voters), and said that in Lebanon, "we see a growing momentum for a “cedar revolution.”

Christ. How can you stand to listen to these people? Are they this ridiculous in real life? Or is this just their 'public face'?

"If freedom and democracy work in Muslim nations like Indonesia, Turkey, Afghanistan and Iraq, why should they not be the norm in Iran, Libya, Syria and Saudi Arabia? " Dobriansky said.

If what Afghanistan and Iraq are currently experiencing is freedom and democracy, I don't think she's going to get many takers.

And what's this about Saudi Arabia? Aren't they our friends? I'll tell you what I've been reading lately - that the Royal House which rules Saudi Arabia is becoming persona non grata in their own country and losing power. When that happens, it's a guarantee that Saudi Arabia will no longer be our friends. For Washington to start naming them in the axis of human rights violators, it must be a done deal.

On the other hand, State also named Israel for some Palestinian deaths in 2004. Have they gone completely mad? What a ridiculous bunch of blowhards.

The report detailed problems among many of the usual suspects when human rights abuses are discussed — North Korea, China and Cuba — as well as recent problems in Sudan and the apparent backsliding of democracy and freedom in Russia.

[...]

Undersecretary of State Paula Dobriansky went further in the press briefing, suggesting that human rights and democracy records of countries form the bedrock of U.S. policy toward them. She noted, "These reports put dictators and corrupt officials on notice that they are being watched by the civilized world and that there are consequences for their actions."

They must be roaring - either with laughter or indignation. Oh yes, Abu Ghraib is mentioned in the report. It's called "a stain on the honor of the U.S." That's rich.

However, the State Department noted that the real question is not whether human rights abuses have taken place somewhere, but what the country is doing to prevent them from happening in the future and to hold people accountable.

And we're doing what? Debating the fine points of torture practices and putting a few soldiers on trial. Meanwhile, Jose Padilla waits in jail for years to be charged of a crime.

State has just wasted more time and tax money.

Garbage.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.