Obama Administration Silent On Real Torture In UAE

28 Apr, 2009 by William Teach

Print this article Font size -16+

If anything shows that the whole torture case is a political debate, meant simply to go after Bush, mostly because the Left is deranged and cannot MoveOn, this does

Following an ABC News investigation last night that showed a Royal Sheikh from the United Arab Emirates mercilessly torturing a man with whips, electric cattle prods and wooden planks with protruding nails, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is being urged to initiate and carry out an investigation into the sadistic torture tape. (WT: clicking that link will launch the video)

This story is from April 23rd. I’ve been waiting to see if Hillary, or someone high in the administration, would say something. So far, nothing

The co-chairman of the House Human Rights Commission, Rep. James McGovern (D-MA), said in a letter to Clinton that the tape “shocks the conscience” and demanded she “express the outrage of our nation regarding these acts, and call for an end to the impunity that has provided Sheikh Issa the freedom and license to carry out such heinous acts without the fear of legal reprisal or consequences.”

McGovern also requests that a temporary hold be placed on U.S. expenditures of “funds, training, sales or transfers of equipment or technology, including nuclear” to the UAE until an investigation is completed, since the UAE Ministry of Interior – led by one of the Sheikh’s brother’s – reviewed the allegations and found “all rules, policies and procedures were followed correctly by the Police Department.”

Good thing we aren’t doing anything like looking to sell the UAE, not exactly a bastion of human rights, a nuclear reactor. Oh, wait, we are

In a fiery letter on Thursday, the commission’s Co-Chairman, James McGovern, said “After viewing that tape I’m uncomfortable doing any business with them quite frankly, never mind entering into some sort of nuclear cooperative agreement.”

McGovern’s comment refers to a pending nuclear agreement between the US and the UAE under which Washington agreed to transfer nuclear items to Abu Dhabi – an emirate in the UAE.

Remember, Hillary doesn’t think that the issue of China’s human rights violations should interfere with working on other issues, such as global climate change. And you would be hard pressed to find any other Democrats who gave a fig about the UAE issue other then McGovern.

Playing the hypothetical game, imagine if it had been President Gore when the Al Qaeda little darlings were being waterboarded. Think Democrats and liberals/progressives would have cared? Would Andrew Sullivan and Glenn Greenwald have provided daily screetch-fests on the subject? Would Republicans have gone off the reservation in denouncing the “torture?” No, no, and no. Ever hear about the large amounts of people tortured by Saddam and his henchmen, or the violence and torture by the Taliban, from the Left? Only when they try and compare the USA to brutal regimes past and present. Because it is a political game. I doubt if most really care. Except to gain political power and tear other people down.