This weeks verdict in the Blackwater [Xe] case whilst legally the correct decision was made; the events themselves and the methodology of the investigation have opened a can of worms.
Was Justice seen to be done?
The point can be made that all actions committed by the United States and its contractors are above the law.
The point that the investigations lead by federal agents were of such incompetence as to be seen a deliberate cover-up. Indeed the investigators were repeatedly warned by prosecutors that their interrogation methods were suspect.
This type of action by the US can only feed the fires of distrust and hate.
We can torture you, kill you, invade and occupy your country at will seems to be the message.
One act of brutal horror does not justify our present actions, we have become what we pretend to despise.
We glorify our country and its democratic principles of liberty and justice to the point of absurdity whilst systematically denying others the same rights and our own in the process.
We are hypocrites.
I intend to stick to current issues, however our actions since WWII in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Central and South America illustrate amply out arrogance and hegemony. They go a long way to explaining 9-11.
History will not be kind, and indeed a whole library of books already exists with this in mind in many languages.
History was said to be 'written by the victor' unfortunately for us this is now longer the case due to the communication networks of our time. Propaganda still works locally but not for long.
Afghanistan
The initial mission has long gone, rebuilding and building a democratic Afghanistan a farce.
We are there for some ill defined 'War on Terror' based on our own fears, it comforts us to imagine that we are killing them over there rather than anywhere else. Then we act surprised that they would dare to try it here.
This war has lost all rational reasoning we are there because we do not know how to leave, and this will go on for another decade at least.
Worst of all, no justice has been seen to be done.
Iraq
We invaded based on lies and committed a crime in the process.
Nobody has been tried for this crime against humanity.
We revel in our apparent success, nobody knows how many innocent people died for this victory. How many lives have been ruined?
Iraq is all but forgotten, the occasional carnage barely commented upon.
One million dead, 4 million refugees, numbers to be ridiculed as somehow false.
I hope Iraq succeeds, but it does not pardon our deeds.
The ends do not justify the means as the saying goes.
What justice has been seen to be done, the criminals responsible for this mess are currently laughing at us almost daily.
Torture
We have decided unilaterally to move on from Abu Gharib, Guantanamo and Bagram. Our use of extraordinary rendition all but forgotten as we heal ourselves.
Arrogance in its purist form, criminals cannot decide to pardon themselves.
Those who authorised these crimes against humanity are on television daily calling for more, is this not incitment to those who really do wish us harm?
Move on and forget, who are you fucking kidding?
Collateral damage and drones
Our way of burying our heads in the sands and saying shit happens in war.
We bomb across international lines, with no permission with no danger to ourselves, the ultimate arrogance.
The shit is happening to other people, somehow I don't believe they will forgive and forget.
Unquestioning support for Israel.
This is a fire that has been burning for so long, it is the heart of the matter.
I suggest questioning our attitude would go a long way to resolving the problem.
Condemning out of hand the Palestinians and the reasons for the violence is not helpful either, both sides deserve condemnation.
Iran
Is it any wonder they fear us and respond to us as they do, this does not mean in any way I support what they are doing internally to quash rebellion.
We need to understand our past actions in the region before we call them crazy.
Mercenaries.
This is Imperialist by it very nature, they owe us no allegiance and we pay them well to do our dirty work for them.
Indeed they are above our laws because we designed this system so that they are.
Summary
Our arrogance and fear has blinded us to the reality.
In just the last decade:
How many rights of others have we trampled?
How many have we killed?
How many have we made homeless?
How many refugees have we created?
How many 'terrorists have we created as a result?
So before we attack those we say hate us and want to harm us, how about we pose the question:
Why
Then we might learn from past mistakes to avoid creating a never ending conflict.
They don't hate us for our freedoms, they hate us for our arrogance and hypocrisy.
My look back at the last decade
May we learn from it in the next.
These are my views, and have nothing to do with what party is in power in DC.
This has been a bipartisan effort for over 65 years.