Libya says U.S. has no right to criticise ruling

NNN0LHI

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Fri May-07-04 04:10 PM
Original message

Libya says U.S. has no right to criticise ruling

http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L07172597.htm

TRIPOLI, May 7 (Reuters) - The United States has no moral right after the Iraqi prison scandal to criticise a Libyan court for sentencing foreign medics to death for infecting children with the HIV virus, a Foreign Ministry official said on Friday.

The U.S. State Department called "unacceptable" the court verdict on Thursday which sentenced to death five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor for deliberately infecting 426 children with the virus that causes AIDS. snip

"Who gave America the right...to pronounce judgments on a Libyan court verdict?" Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassouna Chaouch said.

"America has no moral authority anymore to talk about human rights, even the rights of animals, after the world saw the abuse of Iraqi prisoners," he told reporters. snip

They argue that Tripoli, which once accused them of causing the epidemic under orders from U.S. or Israeli secret services, used them as scapegoats rather than admit the virus was caused by unhygienic standards.

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gratuitous

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Fri May-07-04 04:21 PM
Response to Original message

1. Sad to say, but he's at least partly correct

Now, as deplorable as we find the conduct of other countries, our credibility on the issue will be badly damaged for some time to come.

So, let's thank the responsible parties for the loss of U.S. prestige and authority: George W. Bush, Donald Rumsfeld, Dick Cheney, their mouthpieces in the media, the Supreme Court, our good friends at the Project for a New American Century, the "private contractors," the military intelligence folks, and the common soldiery who committed the acts, but who took their cue from all of the folks and institutions named before them.

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jayfish

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Fri May-07-04 04:24 PM
Response to Original message

2. To The Conservative Lurkers.

This is one of the reasons why the torture scandal is a big deal. Are you starting to get the picture now?

Jay

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htuttle

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Fri May-07-04 04:35 PM
Response to Reply #2

3. There's a lot of stuff we can't really criticize anymore

Wars of aggression, summary execution, imprisonment without trial, torture, corrupted elections, etc...

For example, about all we can criticize China for right now is that their taxes are a bit high.

:shrug:

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Skittles

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Fri May-07-04 05:19 PM
Response to Reply #2

5. they don't care what foreigners think, Jay

conservatives are selfish pigs

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jayfish

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Fri May-07-04 06:28 PM
Response to Reply #5

8. After Watching Events Unfold Over The Past Week,...

I'm sorry to say that you are absolutely correct. And I thought it was mostly bluster. I just don't understand how they cannot see the contradictions in their position. Why expend all the energy on the "hearts and minds" and "Iraqi liberation" nonsense after the WMD debacle? They don't care anyway, right? Why the compassionate Conservative moniker? I thought this was a chance for us to show a little humility and remorse for those we have injured, like the world showed us it's humility after 9/11. Alas there seems to be little to go around. I don't know where we go from here?

Jay

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Skittles

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Fri May-07-04 06:38 PM
Response to Reply #8

10. we don't go ANYWHERE from here

until we get rid of the thieving bastards occupying the White House. THAT will be a start.

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54anickel

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Fri May-07-04 04:41 PM
Response to Original message

4. Scary -

More than 40 of the infected children have died since the nurses were first detained in 1999. They say their convictions were based on confessions two of them gave under torture.

They argue that Tripoli, which once accused them of causing the epidemic under orders from U.S. or Israeli secret services, used them as scapegoats rather than admit the virus was caused by unhygienic standards.

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gratuitous

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Fri May-07-04 05:26 PM
Response to Reply #4

6. Well, if they confessed under torture

Then we know they were telling the truth. Isn't that right, Mr. Dershowitz?

Yeah, this situation stinks to high heaven, but Gaddafi's newest, bestest buddy George W. isn't in any position to stop it. Looks like Spurious George got played like a concert violin, doesn't it?

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daleo

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Fri May-07-04 05:35 PM
Response to Reply #6

7. First thing I thought of too

How can the U.S. claim that the confessions are inauthentic anywhere else in the world, because of torture claims, when it justifies its own torture on the basis that it 'gets results'. How about all of the claims of moral superiority over Nazism and Stalinism - is the U.S. military now saying that maybe that wasn't so bad, since it got results (presumably, although the results were probably very unreliable).

Dershowitz should have seen this too. I haven't seen him defend his torture warrant idea since this scandal hit the news, though.

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newyorican

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Fri May-07-04 06:30 PM
Response to Original message

9. Sort of like...

Catholic Bishops criticizing child abuse.

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2cents

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Fri May-07-04 07:18 PM
Response to Original message

11. Diplomatically - we've been served...

...who will teach the chimp how to dance?

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